The world's largest movie theater chain has launched its own streaming movie service for home viewers. AMC Theatres enters a crowded market with its AMC Theatres On Demand service, available on Roku, web browsers, mobile devices, and select smart TVs. Rather than offering unlimited streaming, however, AMC's is an à la carte service, with films available for purchase or rent as with VUDU and Redbox.
AMC says it has agreements with all the major Hollywood studios to make selections of their movies available on the service, including both new releases and popular older titles. New releases will be available at the same time they are available digitally nationwide. New releases on AMC Theatres On Demand currently include "The Lion King," "Toy Story 4," and "Spider-Man: Far From Home," which can be purchased for $19.99 or rented for $5.99. Other titles vary in price, and you'll find a listing of rentals for $3.99 and less on the app's home screen.
Although the app allows free browsing and free streaming of trailers, you will need to be an AMC Stubs member to rent or purchase any movies. You can sign up for a free Stubs membership, but will have to provide valid credit card information before you're able to activate the app to make any transactions. But if your first transaction is the purchase or rental of a movie distributed by Lionsgate or Paramount Pictures, you can choose an additional three movies from a selection of that studio's films. Rentals and purchases through AMC Theatres On Demand earn AMC Stubs points that go towards in-theater rewards. For more information about AMC Stubs, including free-to-join AMC Stubs Insider, and to sign up, visit www.amctheatres.com/amcstubs.
"The addition of AMC Theatres On Demand, which extends our movie offerings for AMC Stubs members into their homes, makes perfect sense for AMC Theatres, for our studio partners and for our millions of movie-loving guests," said Adam Aron, CEO and President, AMC Theatres. "With more than 20 million AMC Stubs households, and with our web site and smartphone apps already being visited hundreds of millions of times annually by movie fans, AMC Theatres is in a unique position to promote specific movies with greater personalization than has ever been possible before. Through the launch of AMC Theatres On Demand, we can reach movie lovers directly and make it easy for them to access films digitally."
You can look for AMC Theatres On Demand to offer premium streaming subscriptions in the near future, following in the path of The Roku Channel, Amazon Prime Video Channels, and Apple TV Channels. According to AMC, "As part of a first-ever cross-platform marketing partnership between AMC Theatres and AMC Networks , AMC Stubs members will also be able to find movies from AMC Networks' IFC Films and RLJE Films catalogues on the AMC Theatres On Demand platform beginning in late 2019. Through the partnership, AMC Theatres will also promote AMC Networks' targeted streaming services Acorn TV, Shudder, Sundance Now and UMC directly to moviegoers, including more than 20 million AMC Stubs households."
"This is a great opportunity for us to both make our film titles available to movie customers and also increase awareness of our growing streaming services, which are all focused on specific genres and content categories fans are passionate about," said Ed Carroll, chief operating officer of AMC Networks. "If you are a fan of horror, or British drama, that interest translates to the television screen, the movie theatre, the phone or anywhere anyone can consume content today. We look forward to working with AMC Theatres to make their new in-home movie service even more appealing to fans through access to our film libraries and also raise awareness of our hyper-focused streaming services among their millions of customers."
More information about AMC Theatres On Demand can be found at www.amctheatres.com/ondemand, or visit our AMC Theatres On Demand Roku channel page.
