It’s a perennial frustration for moviegoers: The lights go out, the theater falls silent and the anticipation of the movie builds.
But wait! Here are a few more ads for you to sit through.
Most cinema enthusiasts know that going to the movies comes with a healthy dose of promotion, from the ads onscreen to the ones plastered on drink cups and bags of popcorn.
But starting in July, AMC will join its major competitors in running even more commercials before movie screenings begin, in an effort to increase revenue without hiking ticket prices as the industry struggles.
The movie theater chain has struck a deal with the cinema advertising company National CineMedia to play commercials in what is known as the “platinum spot” — right before the start of a movie. It is a departure from 2019, when AMC issued a strongly worded statement rejecting the company’s proposal to place ads in that spot. (National CineMedia signed agreements with two of AMC’s rivals, Regal and Cinemark, that year.)
In a statement on Wednesday, AMC suggested it was prepared to receive some backlash. But at a time when movie theaters are struggling to get Americans to start going to the movies again, AMC noted that the decision would not make it any more expensive for customers.
“For the past five years, AMC has sought out crucial revenue that is not reliant on the increase of base ticket prices,” the company said in the statement. Of the new advertisements, it added that “while AMC was initially reluctant to bring this to our theaters, our competitors have fully participated for more than five years without any direct impact to their attendance.”
The ad slot right before the movie begins is particularly prized by advertisers, said David Hancock, a cinema analyst with Omdia, a research firm.
“Everyone’s attention is focused on the screen and not still texting and walking in and out and going to the toilet,” he said.
When AMC passed on the deal in 2019, it said in a news release that it had “flatly rejected” it over worries that “U.S. moviegoers would react quite negatively to the concept.” The recent agreement was earlier reported by Bloomberg.
The pre-show, which includes trailers and commercials, can last anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes and is common around the world, Mr. Hancock said.
But it won’t add much to AMC’s bottom line, Mr. Hancock said. While the theater gets a cut of the ad sales, so does National CineMedia, which did not respond to a request for comment.
Just minutes before a 4:20 p.m. showing of Tom Cruise’s latest film, “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” at an AMC theater in Times Square on Thursday, couples and families scurried through the doors, not wanting to be late. But because of the lengthy pre-show, they were unlikely to miss any of the movie.
Knowing when a movie will actually start is more of an art than a science. It is unclear how much time, if any, the new agreement AMC has struck will actually add to the pre-movie show. On its website, AMC says its screenings currently feature about 20 minutes of pre-show material, including trailers. National CineMedia said in a 2019 S.E.C. filing that its agreements with Regal and Cinemark entitled it “to display up to five minutes” of programming after a movie’s scheduled showtime.
Most moviegoers are aware that theater chains are showing more ads before films and plan accordingly.
“It allows me to get here later, because I tend to be late at times,” said Thomas Hernandez, 45, of Brooklyn, who arrived early with his date to catch a “Mission: Impossible” screening at the Times Square theater on Thursday.
“It depends on how long the gap is,” Mr. Hernandez said. “Let’s say the late showing is 11 o’clock — the movie’s not probably going to start till midnight? That would be a problem.”
Jane Rossman, 30, said she preferred to support smaller, local theaters over chains like AMC, but makes exceptions for movies she wants to see on a bigger screen. She has accepted that an onslaught of ads comes with that experience.
She and Ryan Daly, 46, came to see three episodes of an Anime series, “Dan Da Dan: Evil Eye,” that are being screened at AMC theaters. Mr. Daly said he had no loyalties to a particular movie theater brand. “Whatever’s closest to me,” he said.
Mr. Daly had a similarly blasé attitude toward the pre-show advertisements, though he did recall complaining when he went with Ms. Rossman to see “Sinners.”
He remembered saying, “Oh, come on, I can’t believe they’re showing this many commercials.” But the complaint swiftly faded when the movie started.
“I don’t even think I remember what the ads were, honestly,” Ms. Rossman said.
Mr. Daly joked: “It’s in your brain. It’s in there — whatever you bought the next day that you never wanted before you saw ‘Sinners.’”
Aishvarya Kavi works in the Washington bureau of The Times, helping to cover a variety of political and national news.
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