How To Save Movies With the CEO of AMC Theaters

Summary

Podcast Summary

Podcast: The Town with Matthew Belloni

Episode: How To Save Movies With the CEO of AMC Theaters
Date: September 1, 2025
Host: Matthew Belloni
Guests: Adam Aron (CEO, AMC Theatres), Lucas Shaw (Bloomberg)
Venue: Recorded live at the El Rey Theater

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Episode Overview

In this lively, candid, and at times humorous live episode, Matthew Belloni welcomes Adam Aron, the outspoken CEO and Chairman of AMC Theatres, for an in-depth discussion about the state of moviegoing, the struggles and innovations of the theatrical exhibition business, and the critical question: How can movie theaters survive and thrive in today’s entertainment landscape? Joined by Lucas Shaw of Bloomberg, the conversation covers current industry tensions, the unique economics and challenges of theaters post-Covid, relationships with studios and streamers, pricing experiments, audience experiences, and what the future holds for multiplexes.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

I. The Business of Movie Theaters: Capacity and Usage

[05:08–06:23]

• Movie theaters are only about 14% full most of the time, akin to "a church built for Easter Sunday." Aron notes:

  “We’re sort of full on Friday and Saturday nights and pretty empty the rest of the time. … We do need more movies coming out… We also have to look for alternate uses of our space… we have so much excess capacity.” (Adam Aron, 05:18)

• Seeking new ways to use empty theater space is a priority.

II. The Theatrical-Streaming Divide and the Netflix Standoff

[06:35–12:02]

• AMC’s refusal to show some Netflix films is rooted in the lack of a theatrical window, not personal animosity:

  “Nothing would make me happier than for Netflix to want to show movies theatrically. … The most successful movies on streaming services are those which have had a robust theatrical release.” (Adam Aron, 07:18)

• Success stories—like Apple’s F1 and Glass Onion—show studios and some streamers are coming around to the value of a real theatrical run.
• Aron laments the failure to agree with Netflix on The Irishman’s window (09:47–11:13), and believes eventually talent and filmmakers will drive Netflix toward theatrical windows.

III. The Window Debate: Has Theatrical Lost? Or Won?

[13:37–15:39]

• The box office is down since Covid but “when Hollywood makes a movie that has real appeal, consumers pour out in droves.”
• Pre-Covid domestic box office “was over $10 billion for 11 years… over $11 billion for five years. … This year [2025] will be over $9 billion, but not $10 or $11.”
• Despite lower attendance, some films and events (e.g. Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, 15:37) pack theaters.

IV. Margins, Concessions, and the Power of Popcorn

[15:51–18:52]

• The real profit is in concessions:

  “Pre Covid, we sold $5 a head of food and drink … We came back from COVID, it was over $8 a head, like instantly.” (Adam Aron, 16:20)

• Popcorn quality and sourcing:

  “I actually once went to a cornfield in Illinois… and I inspected the corn…” (Adam Aron, 17:18)

• AMC’s profit per patron is up nearly 50% since before Covid (36:24–37:41).

V. Audience Experience at AMC vs. Competitors

[18:52–21:19]

• Aron claims AMC offers a genuinely superior experience thanks to more premium screens (IMAX, Dolby), innovative subscription (A-List), and efforts to win brand loyalty.
• He relates the origin of A-List, attributing the subscription model not to MoviePass but his own experience in the ski industry:

  “MoviePass did come along and it was a nightmare for us … but we were planning to launch at a $20 price point…” (Adam Aron, 22:32)

• Now, A-List has grown to over a million members (29:22–29:57).

VI. The Advertising Dilemma: Why More Pre-show Ads?

[23:36–30:25]

• AMC resisted pre-show commercials for years, but competitors’ advertising revenue left AMC at a disadvantage during post-Covid recovery:

  “I hate this idea… But at some point, it’s irresponsible not to take the money if the consumer is telling us… [it] wasn’t being rewarded with incremental market share…” (Adam Aron, 24:08–25:45)

• Lengthened pre-shows by six minutes and now rolling back by about five minutes due to consumer feedback.
• Internal marketing (e.g., ads for A-List) shown because “they work”—A-List membership growth is evidence.

VII. Studio Relations and Disney/Marvel Weakness

[32:01–35:38]

• Disney is a vital partner—Aron praises Disney’s track record and denies requests for huge opening splits.
• Concerns about waning Marvel performance:

  “Would I love it if Disney is even more successful...? Yeah, I would.” (Adam Aron, 34:02)

VIII. The Evolution of Attendance, Pricing, and Margins

[36:24–38:24]

• Rise in per-patron profit due to concessions and new revenue streams—now includes bars and movie-themed merchandise:

  “We have 350 bars… right now we’re pushing around $100 million a year of movie themed merchandise in our theaters from nothing three years ago.” (Adam Aron, 37:43–38:08)

IX. Dynamic and Discount Pricing Experiments

[38:24–46:14]

• Added “Discount Wednesdays” after success with Discount Tuesdays, inspired by Sony chief Tom Rothman's critique of high ticket prices.
• Studios still get their share—AMC absorbs the revenue cut.
• Variable pricing (for weekends, blockbuster titles, end-of-run movies, seat locations) mostly tested with mixed-to-poor results:

  “…Whatever we made from the 80% who paid a little more was dwarfed by the 10% who deserted us to our competition. So we had to abandon that effort.” (Adam Aron, 44:33–44:44)

• Sightline seating (differentiated seat pricing) was unsuccessful due to customer pushback.

X. Streamers, Windows, and the Future with Apple and Amazon

[46:14–51:27]

• Stronger relationship with Apple after F1’s box office success—hopes for more robust windows but no public commitments yet.
• Studios generally no longer adhere strictly to a 45-day (let alone 74-day) window; Disney is the only major still consistent with a 60-day window.

XI. Preserving Moviegoing for the Future

[51:27–55:27]

• The theatrical experience is positioned as a cultural cornerstone worth protecting for future generations:

  “…preserving for your kids and their kids the chance to see movies in a movie theater 20 years from now and 50 years from now, that’s a good thing.” (Adam Aron, 53:35)

XII. Alternate Programming/Innovation for Theaters

[56:07–59:43]

• Aron agrees that theaters should seek alternative programming; AMC has tried NFL games (wrong out-of-market games), and is seeking rights to live sports and concerts.
• Capable of live broadcasting to 277 U.S. theaters.
• Teases a “really amazing idea” in the works for 2026.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On theater capacity:

  “I describe the movie theater industry as a church built for Easter Sunday.”
  — Adam Aron, [05:17]

• On Netflix standoff:

  “We need a respectable theatrical window. Because if I do something for Netflix … how do I say to Disney … oh, yeah, but for you it's 45 days? It's just not right.”
  — Adam Aron, [11:09]

• On the core business:

  “Our profit margin on food and drink is really high … we buy the best corn there is.”
  — Adam Aron, [16:20–17:24]

• On AMC’s pre-show ads:

  “I hate this idea. … But at some point, it’s irresponsible not to take the money.”
  — Adam Aron, [24:08]

• On pricing experiments:

  “We tried blockbuster pricing, we tried charging a couple bucks more for a big movie title than a small movie title … but whatever we made from the 80% who paid a little more was dwarfed by the 10% who deserted us to our competition.”
  — Adam Aron, [44:33–44:44]

• On protecting the moviegoing experience:

  “Preserving for your kids and their kids the chance to see movies in a movie theater … that’s a good thing.”
  — Adam Aron, [53:35]

• On Nicole Kidman ad phenomenon:

  “There are bumper stickers and T shirts with phrases from the Nicole Kidman commercials all over America.”
  — Adam Aron, [52:26]

• On alternate uses for theaters:

  “We’ve been trying for years, mostly unsuccessfully [to get sports rights] … But watching a football game on a 55 foot screen is pretty good.”
  — Adam Aron, [56:36–58:26]

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Major Segments with Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment | |---------------|-----------------------------------------------------| | 05:08 | Movie theaters' low occupancy, need for new uses | | 06:35–12:02 | Netflix standoff, importance of windowing | | 13:37–15:39 | State of box office: winning/losing “the war” | | 15:51–18:52 | Concessions, popcorn profit, food quality | | 18:52–21:19 | Customer experience, A-List origin | | 23:36–30:25 | Rise and rollback of pre-show advertising | | 32:01–35:38 | Studio relations: Disney and Marvel | | 36:24–38:24 | Growing per-patron profit via upsells | | 38:24–46:14 | Discount pricing, variable pricing, seat pricing | | 46:14–51:27 | Streamers and window commitments | | 51:27–55:27 | Preserving moviegoing for future generations | | 56:07–59:43 | Alternative programming (sports, concerts, etc.) |

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Tone and Language

The episode is light, fast-moving, filled with friendly banter and wisecracks—Belloni and Shaw needle Aron on ads, pricing, and AMC’s relationship with both fans and competitors, while Aron alternates between good-natured defensiveness, industry insight, and optimism about the future of cinema. Audience participation and on-the-spot reactions from the live crowd add energy throughout.

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Summary Takeaways

• The survival of theaters hinges on more compelling movies, strong theatrical windows, and smarter use of assets.
• AMC will continue to experiment with pricing, concessions, and programming—balancing profitability with consumer satisfaction.
• Studio relationships (especially with Disney) are central, but the next frontier is securing buy-in from streamers.
• Future growth may depend as much on diversification (sports, concerts, events) as on movies themselves.
• Despite ongoing challenges, Aron remains optimistic:

  “I’m an optimist about the future of the box office.” (35:38)

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This episode offers a masterclass in the challenges and hopes of movie exhibition in an era of streaming and shifting consumer habits—plus loads of insider stories and plenty of popcorn banter.

Transcript

[A]

As the 21st century was getting underway, Hollywood released a series of films that were daring, entertaining and absolutely unmissable. Films like 25th Hour, Bring It On, Zodiac, and no country for Old Men. They arrived during the George W. Bush era, a chaotic time in America. Think 9, 11, Katrina, the mortgage crisis. After the Bush years, the country would never be the same. And neither would Hollywood. I'm Brian Raftery, and in my new limited series, Mission Accomplished, we're gonna dive into some of the biggest movies of the Bush years and look at what they said about the state of the nation. We'll go behind the scenes with filmmakers and experts and relive some of your favorite movies from the early 2000s, from Donnie Darko to Michael Clayton, from Anchorman to Iron Man. So slip on your sketchers, dig out your old Nokia, and join me for mission accomplished starting Aug. 12 on the big Picture Feat.

[B]

This episode is brought to you by Wayfair. Your home is more than a space. It's where you express yourself like. We've all got our movie night set up. I definitely do. I've got my chair, I've got my popcorn, I've got my nice drink area. Everything's set up perfectly. Whatever your vibe, Wayfair has every style for every home. They've got all your home essentials, storage solutions, decor and more all in one place. I recently got some great stuff from Wayfair. Ordered some nice outdoor furniture. We got a rug that looks nice with the fire pit. We've got some flowers. Stuff goes all around the outdoor barbecue. Very cool. Lots of entertaining this summer. Wayfair. Big part of it. Get inspired with room ideas and easy to shop collections. All with everyday ways to save. Shop everything [e-mail] with free and easy delivery straight to your door. That's W A Y-F-A-I-R.com Wayfair Every style, every home.

[C]

This episode is brought to you by Seen on the Screen, a podcast presented by Make It Universal and Rotten Tomatoes. Join me, Jacqueline Coley, as I meet the filmmakers, actors and industry insiders influencing entertainment. Each episode is an intimate, fun conversation about the impact of film as guests share their journeys, inspirations and answer trivia about the movies that shape them. Seen on the Screen is available now. To listen, simply search Seen on the Screen. Wherever you listen to podcasts.

[D]

It is Monday, September 1st.

[B]

Happy Labor Day.

[D]

Today is our live show.

[B]

Thanks to everyone who came out at the El Rey Theater last week. Great meeting people, seeing the enthusiasm for the show. Lots of townies, lots of People were very curious about our mystery guest, and I was very happy to reveal it was my good friend Adam Aaron, the chairman and CEO of AMC Theaters. Adam should be very familiar to those of you who've been listening to the town since the early days. In fact, even before that, he was.

[D]

Named the inaugural villain of the year.

[B]

In my Puck newsletter for his interesting stock sales during the whole meme stock madness that led he and I to start an ongoing dialogue about the theater business. Often an argument.

[D]

Not a dialogue, I'll admit, but a.

[B]

Good natured debate about the movie industry, the role that movie theaters play in modern Hollywood, why people complain so much about them, yet keep going back, and the upheaval that the exhibition industry has endured over the past five years. The other voice you hear is Lucas Shaw from Bloomberg, who graciously joined us for the interview.

[D]

So today, it's the most powerful person.

[B]

In the theater industry, the leader of the AMC apes, friend to both Nicole Kidman and Taylor Swift, the man who sells more popcorn than anybody else. He talks about that. It's my good friend Adam Aaron, recorded live at the El Rey Theater from the Ringer and Puck. I'm Matt Bellamy, and this is the town.

[E]

The first time I heard of Matt Bellany is when I read his column that I was the villain of the year. And I was really upset.

[D]

You weren't thrilled.

[E]

I was not happy. And I called you, and you were nice enough to take the call, I believe.

[D]

This was Christmas Eve, was it not?

[E]

I don't remember. I just remember we went about an hour on the phone where I could tell you, this is wrong, this is unfair. This isn't right.

[D]

And I had pretty good answers for why it was.

[E]

No, you didn't. But. But here's what I want to say. It's very nice. Okay. I since learned that with the exception of that one erroneous article.

[D]

Just that one.

[E]

Just that. The only one that I could find, I learned that I think Matt actually is the most informed, knowledgeable reporter. No offense to Lucas because he just said this about you, but I think he's the most informed reporter in Hollywood. I think he knows what's going on here more than I do.

[D]

All right, no spin zone here, no bs.

[E]

But I just want to say yes.

[D]

Wait till I ask you why you hate your customers.

[E]

It's. It started when you trashed me, but we've. We've gone a long way since then. Yeah, years ago. All right, There we go.

[D]

Okay. Would you like to start, or should I?

[F]

I thought you already asked Your first question.

[D]

I haven't thought there's a nice way to.

[F]

Well, I have a similar question. Movie theaters, correct me if I'm wrong, generally full, like, 20% of the time. 15% of the times.

[E]

14 if we're lucky.

[F]

Right. Is there another business that is considered successful where you're only 14% full?

[E]

Yes, because I use this all the time. I spent 11 years in the airline business, and as an airline executive, if you weren't 80% full and you were in the marketing department, which I was, you'd like, slash your wrists. It's a disaster. But I describe the movie theater industry as a church built for Easter Sunday. And the reality is we're sort of full on Friday and Saturday nights and pretty empty the rest of the time. And that is something that has had my attention. I've run AMC now for almost a decade. That's something that's had my attention for a full decade. We do need more movies coming out of major studios and minor studios alike. We'll also have to look for alternate uses of our space in addition to movies because we have so much excess capacity that just sitting there begging to be used.

[D]

But churches are not a business. I mean, many of them are in some ways, but.

[E]

Post Covid, neither have been we.

[D]

That's true. Yes. You said it, not me. Okay, we'd like to start with the news. So you chose not to play the K Pop Demon Hunters movie this past weekend. We all know why. You have a long standing feud with Netflix. You will not play their movies. They do not adhere to a window that you find acceptable. Your other two rival chains decided to put aside that beef and play that movie for two days. Why did you not?

[E]

So don't you feel good sitting next to someone who actually has principles?

[D]

Okay, no. Are you kidding? You're in Hollywood, so nobody feels good about that.

[E]

And a backbone. And to slightly correct the question. And it's like, we've been funny ha ha, but it's like, time to be serious. Nothing would make me happier than for Netflix to want to show movies theatrically. We have been trying for years now to convince Netflix that the most successful movies on streaming services are those which have had a robust theatrical release.

[D]

Fairmount says that's settled. Last week at an event for media, they said it's settled now that movies that go to theaters first do better on streaming.

[E]

Well, I agree with them. And by the way, it's settled at Paramount and it's settled at Disney and at Warner Brothers and at Universal and at Amazon and At Apple, it's just not, you know, F1.

[F]

Well, they put Amazon and Apple both put movies on their streaming service.

[E]

F1.

[D]

Yeah. The windowing is not secure. We'll get to that. But the windowing at the streamers is not.

[E]

But F1 was a major theatrical release and we thought, and my hat's off to Apple, I think they did a great job with F1 and it was a wonderful movie and you didn't have to be an F1 fan to really enjoy the story. It was really well made movie. But I think we've won that argument with everybody. But at Netflix, and we've tried. I mean, I personally spent hours and hours trying to get the Irishman into theaters.

[D]

Yeah, let's talk about that.

[F]

Did you feel like that was going to happen? Is that the closest you've gotten to having a.

[E]

No, the closest we got was the Knives out sequel, the Glass Onion. Glass Onion, which we actually played, hoping that it would convince Netflix that they would make money from it and it would increase the ratings of Glass Onion on its streaming platform.

[D]

But let's go back to Irishman for a second because that was one of my things that readers said was one of the biggest calamities of the past 15 years. You guys were close. Netflix wanted to put Irishman in theaters mostly probably because Scorsese wanted it. And at the time, I believe your reporting was that it was a 45 day window that Netflix was willing to do and you said, no, no, no.

[F]

I thought the understanding. My understanding was that you and Scott Stuber had an agreement at 60, but Ted and Reid insisted on 45.

[E]

And I don't believe in kissing and telling in public. So I don't think it's appropriate for me to share what we agreed to and what we didn't agree to. And all I can say is this. We tried very hard to make it happen. I talked for hours and hours with Scott Stuber. He tried internally to make it happen. At the end of the day, there was not corporate agreement between Netflix and AMC as what the window would be, what their film rent would be, et cetera, et cetera. And it didn't happen. And it's a shame. And we did it with Glass Onion and we haven't done it since. And we did announce we were going to play Narnia and that is yet another carrot out to Netflix. We didn't do it so much for Netflix, we did it more for imax, imax. We're very close to imax and this was an important project for imax and as a favor to the CEO of imax, I said yes, we'll play Narnia. Other circuits have not yet said yes, that is true. And this still dangles out of Carrot. I don't want to be a foe of Netflix. Netflix is a great company. I would love to play Netflix movies in our theaters. But hence going back to principles and this past weekend and K pop, we need a respectable theatrical window. Because if I do something for Netflix, a two week window or something, how do I say to Disney or Warner Brothers or Sony or Paramount, oh, yeah, but for you it's 45 days, it's just not right. So.

[F]

But is it different if it's just, I mean, this is a movie that came out two months ago. You're doing two days.

[D]

It's not like, yeah, you play movies all the time that came out and have been on home video for a long time. You did ET Re release, you're doing wizard of Oz re release.

[E]

But that's different. Those are re releases and they're intended to be re releases. They're not intended to be new movies. If this industry, like you said that David Ellison said this is a settled question. And I believe he's right.

[D]

He has an incentive to say that, by the way, he's competing for talent with Netflix and going aggressively after their talent. And I, and I've always said that the, the talent is going to be what breaks Netflix.

[B]

It's not, it's not going to be you.

[D]

They don't, they don't need you. It's going to be filmmakers that say, we're going to take our project, you want to Paramount because they're going to give us theaters.

[E]

You're probably right. But having said that, David Ellison did actually say it's a settled question. And we believe that it's in studio's interest to take movies to theaters first. Because if they do, when those movies, first of all, they're going to make a lot of money. Remember, this industry Pre Covid grossed $43 billion globally. And the studio share of that is substantial. We believe they'll make a lot of money from their theatrical run. And when they then take the movies to streaming services, they're going to be watched that much more. It's not going to be some endless scroll of title after title after title that you don't know what the movie is. I mean, the most successful movie, I think on Paramount plus was Top Gun Maverick. Why? Because of its billion and a half dollar theatrical run. That's why. Having said that, if the industry trains consumers that movies aren't going to have a theatrical run run. They just wait a week or two. And movies are at the home free. I might add free with quotes. Well, incrementally free. Right. I mean, you pay your monthly fee, but watching the next movie doesn't cost anything. If we train consumers to stay home, they will do what we train them to do. They will stay home. That's not good for studio incomes who depend on their split of ticket revenue. So I think Ellison is right. Now, it's in my interest to say that, too. Right, of course. But I happen to believe it, which makes it even more convenient.

[F]

But do you feel like you may have already lost that battle? Like, are you gonna get people who now just wait for movies to be available at home to come more just because the window goes from two weeks to four weeks or six weeks?

[E]

Depends on your perspective. We've sort of won the war. We've sort of lost the war. We've lost the war in the sense that for 11 years in a row, pre Covid, the box office was. This is the domestic box office, the basic unit of measurement of this industry. Canada and Mexico, Canada and the U.S. all theaters, all movies. The box office was over $10 billion. 11 years in a row. It was over $11 billion five years in a row. The last five. And, you know, it's. What are we? We're in year five of walking through the wilderness, and the box office will be over 9 billion this year, but it's not going to be 10. It's not going to be 11, so.

[D]

And a lot of that is due to price increases in PLFs. Premium screens.

[E]

Yeah.

[F]

Number of tickets sold is down.

[E]

But here's why we've won. I said, depending on your perspective, if you look at individual movie titles, there are plenty of movie titles that are doing wonderfully well. And I think we have proven over and over and over and over that when Hollywood makes a movie that has real appeal, consumers pour out in droves. We're now putting out press releases kind of routinely on Monday mornings after huge weekends. And I'm signing off on press releases that say, there were 5 million people in our theaters this weekend. There were 7 million people in our theaters. And when I say our theaters, I don't mean the whole industry. I mean just amc. Like, people are showing up. Go back to, you know, we didn't make them. We only showed movies for 103 years. And two years ago, we did our famous Taylor Swift movie that grossed $260 million plus, I mean, our theaters were packed, so.

[D]

Okay, but that's not all the time. And it's not the way you have increased your margins and made more money is from ticket increases and from. In theater advertising. So I want to talk.

[E]

No, I want to talk about that. But that's actually incorrect. The way we've actually survived Covid, and the way that we've made our money, such as it is. And I.

[D]

Besides becoming a meme stock.

[E]

Besides that. And I almost don't understand. Well, I understand why the phenomenon occurred. I don't understand why the phenomena has remained, but it has. Pre Covid, we sold $5 a head of food and drink to the. On average, the people who came into our theaters. Not everybody stops at a concession stand. You know, like, around half the people who come to movie theater just buy their ticket. They go into their seat. They don't buy, like, one cent. Not nothing.

[D]

Well, it's. Cause they've stuck the food in their coats and.

[E]

Yeah, just. Just you.

[D]

Just me. Yeah.

[E]

Anyway. And you're banned from our. No, but. But on average, we sold $5 ahead. We came back from COVID it was over $8 ahead, like, instantly. Like, first. First day we finally reopened. And our profit margin on food and drink is really high. I mean, like, we. So that's.

[D]

Cause it's so high quality.

[E]

By the way. I mean, like, we're on like nine questions at the same time, but it is high quality. I actually once went to a cornfield in Illinois.

[D]

Oh, God.

[E]

I got a picture. And I inspected the corn with the guy. With the guy who grew the corn.

[D]

Please tell me there's a video of this.

[E]

Yeah. And he told me, you know, you buy the best corn there is. Wait, wait. And I didn't even. I was running the largest theater chain in the world. We saw like, tons of popcorn every day. And I didn't even know there were different grades of corn. So I went back to my F&B department and said, I was just told by the farmer that we buy the best. Oh, yes. We buy the top grade of corn. So it is our quality.

[D]

I thought this story ended with you telling them to cut the budget of the corn.

[E]

No, actually, it was the opposite. And this shows you, like, you're a pessimist and I'm an optimist, and you're a little cynical about how businesses work. And I actually believe that the best way for a company to thrive is to please its customers. I've always felt that.

[D]

Okay, but then let's go back to the Ads because that does not please the customer. They absolutely hate it.

[E]

I understand. I'll come there in a second but I'll go back to the corn. What you said like tell them cut the budget. No, what I said sign it up on a long term contract because I don't want to get, I want to always buy the best corn and I don't want to run short and I want them raising the price on us in future years. So actually that is what I said when I came back from the corn fields. Okay. But it is quality and I don't even know how we got there.

[F]

But do you think that the experience at an AMC theater is measurably better than the experience at a Regal or any other theater?

[E]

I absolutely do do.

[D]

But you used to tell me that and you would say because our commercials before our pre show is is shorter than theirs.

[E]

I never said that.

[D]

You did say that.

[E]

Never said.

[D]

You said we had an opportunity to put an ad between the final trailer and the movie and we chose not to do that.

[E]

That is true.

[D]

And now you do do that.

[E]

That is true.

[D]

So, so let's get to the ads. I, I, I want to harping on.

[E]

This but I want to go back to his question. Before we go to your question. I actually do believe that an AMC customer has a better experience than at competitors theaters. I think. Thank you.

[D]

We got some A list members there, some Stubbs A list there we go. Hottest club in America according to the.

[E]

Wall Street Journal and the LA Times. But I also believe not just that the experience is better in AMC theater, but also that AMC customers are more brand loyal to us because of all the things we do. How do we make it better? We've got more IMAX auditoriums than anybody else in North America.

[D]

That is True.

[E]

AMC has 50% of all the IMAX auditoriums in North America. We have in the last, actually in the nine years I run the company. When I got to amc we had five Dolby cinemas. I saw one movie in Dolby Cinema, said this is amazing. We need more of these. I called the CEO of Dolby who I was just meeting for the first time and said let's dramatically expand your business. We now have 169 Dolby Theaters. We just put out a press Dolby Cinema theaters. We just put out a press release a couple of months ago. We're going to grow that number by another 40. And the PLFs are just one example of things that we've done to make the experience better and a whole lot more in marketing. We Invented a list. And a list is very popular.

[D]

Well, wait a second. MoviePass invented a list. And you said, holy shit, we're getting our ass kicked by this MoviePass thing. We need our own version of that.

[E]

Actually, no. Actually, that really isn't true. But no, right? No, I'm not trying.

[D]

Please tell us.

[E]

But I'm going to share with you. You, this audience. This is not widely known. So I came from the ski resort industry. Among other places, I ran some of the best ski resorts in Colorado, including Vail. And we converted the whole day ticket market in Colorado to season passes. And since then, actually, they've converted the whole universe to season passes. And so, on my long legal pad with all these ideas I had when I joined AMC in 2016, I said, what about a subscription program? And about six months before MoviePass launched, we said, all right, we're finally going to do it. And we went around to every studio pitching the subscription program. And one studio said. And they basically all said, yes, okay, except for one.

[F]

And why was it Disney.

[E]

And the 1.

[D]

And how quickly did they escort you out?

[E]

No. And the One said, we're all for the idea, but we can't do it before January 1st because we have a contractual deal with a certain streamer that prohibits us from doing this. So we're supportive, but you gotta wait till January. And in July or August, MoviePass launched. So actually, before then, we were gonna go.

[D]

It was your idea.

[E]

Yes, I will say, having said that, MoviePass did come along and it was a nightmare for us because. No, because we were. Because we believed in the concept and we were planning to launch, but we were planning to launch at a $20 price point, and they came out at a $10 price point. And we were convinced that at a $20 price point, you could make this thing work. This is in 2018. This is a long price point ago. At $20 price point, you could make it work. And at $10, it would be an economic disaster. And it turned out to be an economic disaster. And the Two principles of MoviePass have both been charged federally with securities fraud.

[D]

That is true, yes.

[E]

Serious.

[D]

No, MoviePass still exists. I want to say they reinvented and they're back.

[E]

Totally different.

[D]

Yes.

[E]

Different model, but anyway, so, yes, it's a good thing that we did. And we always loved the idea. And we didn't do it because MoviePass forced us. We did it as soon as we could. Having said that, I think you want to come back to advertising, right?

[D]

You've avoided it for 10 minutes.

[E]

Please.

[D]

This is the number one thing.

[E]

Time's up already. No, no, no.

[D]

This is the number one thing.

[E]

It's so nice to be with all of you people tonight.

[D]

People absolutely hate it. And when you went from 20 to 30 minutes on the pre show, studios finally pushed back and said, what are you doing? And then you walked it back a little. Explain what you did and why and why you continue to subject people to this.

[E]

Okay, so you're about 80% right. Okay. No, that's pretty good, actually. So first of all, you're correct that I hate this idea. This is the idea is basically to show a one minute commercial, two trailers before the movie starts. I hate this idea. And I resisted it and fought it for years. And our two largest competitors started doing this seven years ago and were getting paid handsomely for it. And in the first quarter this year, when the box office was very low and we were bleeding cash, in our fifth year post Covid of bleeding cash, we finally realized, we looked, and our two competitors who have been doing this since 2018, Cinemark and Regal, and taking the money, we did our work. And they did not lose market share because they did this. So even though I hate the idea of it, we really needed the money. And consumers, even though you say consumers hate it, consumers have been having this at Cinemark and regal since 2018. And consumers weren't pushing back. And we finally decided we could no longer spot our competitors, the tens of millions of dollars they were receiving from this advertising. So we agreed to lengthen our pre show by exactly six minutes. We knew when we did that, and it's not something we wanted to do and it's something we resisted for years and years. But at some point, it's irresponsible not to take the money if the consumer is telling us because we weren't being rewarded with incremental market share away from the guys who are already doing it. When we did it, we knew we were lengthening the pre show. We weren't lengthening the pre show from 20 to 30. We were lengthening by exactly six minutes. And we knew that if there was pushback that we would have to immediately shorten. And actually, while you described the studio's reaction that really, studios bitch at us all the time. It's like part of life.

[D]

Yes.

[E]

And by the way, I say that in love with studios because we get all of our product from studios. We work so hard to have a great partnership with every studio. We lean into their movies, we do everything we can think of to sell tickets for their movies. We do everything we can think of to make movie going pleasant for our mutual guests, theirs and ours. But it wasn't a pushback from studios that alarmed us. It was pushback from consumers. Because we take consumer feedback very seriously and our ears are to the ground and we pay a lot of attention to what the guests in our theaters say. And if we do something they like, we try to do more of it. And we do something they dislike, we try to do less of it. And we knew when we made this decision to lengthen the pre show, we might have to shorten.

[D]

But you suggested in a tweet or in a comment that people should just show up late.

[E]

Well, not exactly what we said.

[D]

And the studios don't like that because they want people to watch their trailers.

[E]

Well, I want people to watch the trailers too, because I think it's the best ad that studios have for their movies and it's the best ad that we have to get people to come into theaters to watch the movies. What we did put out a message was. And by the way, that message has always been on our website. It just was a little more buried and we made it a little more visible.

[D]

You've told me many times I show up 25 minutes late.

[E]

Personally, I do, yes. Because I knew the movie started 25 minutes after showtime on average, and now they started 30. And we put it. We gave more vis. When we lengthened the pre show, we gave more visibility. The message that feature films start 25 to 30 minutes at posted showtime because we didn't want to mislead consumers, that you gotta rush, you gotta get there on the dot of when the showtime is. And they sit there for 25 minutes and they're upset. But when we did this, to lengthen this five, five, six minutes, we knew we might have to short. If it sort of didn't work, we'd have to shorten the pre show by five or six minutes. And that's what we're doing right now. So we're cutting out about 2ish minutes from all the marketing stuff we do before.

[D]

Why do you do that? Why are there four separate AMC ads during the pre show?

[E]

Because they work.

[D]

But what does working mean?

[F]

You need to market AMC to people who are sitting in an AMC theater.

[D]

Yeah. Why is that? Like Nicole Kidman. Great. Just have that.

[E]

Because one of those minutes, 35 seconds of those minutes is talking about how good a list is. And a list has gone from 500,000 members three or four years ago to a million members today. And that's a really important program for us and that's a very important communication for us to make. And we put it first far enough in away from the way we put it a lot. Most of it up, way up front. Not Nicole. She's right before the movie starts, of course. She deserves it.

[D]

There's a new one coming, by the way.

[E]

Someday.

[D]

Yeah, you, you teased a new one and it wasn't a new one. It was a recut old one.

[E]

That's right. I, I, I told you. He knows what's going on. It's so and by the way, we're going to do it again for another year and we're going to recut it even shorter.

[D]

Oh, really nice. We'll get another hit out of that. I hope she gets paid more.

[E]

Of course. Yeah. But, but I got to get, I got to finish the advertising question. So we're taking about two minutes of the marketing fluff out and we're going to show one less trailer because we actually show one more trailer than everybody else now. And if you add those two together.

[F]

How many trailers are you up to per movie?

[E]

I think we do eight and everybody else does seven. So we're gonna go back to seven like they do and that cuts two and a half minutes plus the marketing fluff. So we're gonna shorten the pre show by the same five minutes that we added to and I do believe that will be sufficient to please the movie going public.

[G]

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[D]

Have you ever done a study where you posed whether people would pay 2, $3 more for zero pre show.

[E]

No, no. We have never dawned on me to try that.

[D]

Okay. Are you kidding?

[E]

What? No.

[D]

You've never done that.

[E]

You've never never tried that. But also we have a contract with a third party that wouldn't allow us to. We would be in breach if we did that.

[F]

So you mentioned earlier having sort of a love hate relationship with the studios.

[E]

No, it's more love.

[F]

More love.

[E]

Love, love, love, love, love. Witches love. Mild upset love love love.

[D]

Which is the dysfunctional often which is.

[F]

The hardest studio to deal with.

[D]

And why is it Disney?

[F]

That was my question. But I did the why is it Disney? Earlier so I didn't feel like I couldn't repeat.

[E]

Sometimes, sometimes you're a bit unfair. And, and I will tell you, I've run this company for nine years and eight months and my interactions at every level of Disney have been spectacular. And I, I'm not. They.

[D]

When they're asking for 70% of opening weekend and the split argument is getting.

[E]

Really heated, they don't ask us for 70% opening week.

[D]

They don't.

[E]

Okay. But it helps to be the largest movie theater chain in the world. It helps to sell the most tickets for any studio than anybody else. But having said all that, and I know we were joking earlier and you were saying about like people who say nice things about people. I actually meant what I just said. Our relationships at every level of Disney are spectacular. And I've told them this over and over again. I said, if Disney is a good quarter, we're gonna have a good quarter. And if Disney's a bad quarter, we're gonna be in trouble. If Disney's a big movie, AMC is gonna be really full. And if Disney has a flop, AMC is gonna really feel it. So I have so much appreciation for what Disney does. And if you go back over time, I mean, they've had a, they've had a quarter or two where they've missed or they've had a movie or two where they've missed. But if you go back the 10 years that I run this company, Disney's had a lot of hits. Disney's had a lot of hits.

[D]

They have. But does the Marvel weakness scare you? The new normal for Marvel is not where we were pre Covid.

[E]

Would I love it if Disney is even more successful than it is today? Yeah, I would.

[D]

But it's got to be concerning. Beyond one off titles, it's got to be concerning that each of these Disney Marvel movies Seems to be stuck in that 4 to 600 realm and not above that.

[E]

We are only 120 days away from a little movie, you may have heard of it, called Avatar, Fire and Ash. Yes.

[D]

Okay. And stop the clock on how long it took him to get to Avatar.

[E]

I happen to be an optimist about the future of the box office. You and I did a panel together a year and a half ago at Cinemacon. And the box office had been just dreadful up until that box, up until that panel. And I went on that panel and I said, it's about to turn and the rest of the year is gonna be great. And people looked at me like I was the man from Mars. Cause, like, haven't you. You look in the rearview mirror like it's been terrible. And sure enough, it was great the next eight months. And as I look ahead, when we called this year, we said the first quarter was going to be a debacle. Second quarter is going to be great. The third quarter is going to be soft. The fourth quarter is going to be great, and all of 2026 is going to be great. And I think just like that prediction I made in April of 24 turned out to be right. I think the prediction that we made at the beginning of this year, and I'm reiterating again tonight, unchanged. I think July and August, September can be a little weak. I think October, November, December are going to be great. And I think 26 is going to be a banner year.

[F]

Didn't you guys say 2025 was going to be the banner year?

[E]

Well, 2025 is probably going to end up. Nobody knows exactly, but let's call it 500 million to $800 million bigger than 2024. So that's an improvement. And I think 2026 is going to be $500 million to $800 million, $500 million to a billion dollars more than 25. And if you look at our industry, the sad truth is, pre Covid, you didn't need to be real smart to run a movie theater company. You didn't. The grosses were very reliable. The income flow is very reliable.

[D]

That's kind of the problem. That's why there hadn't been any innovation.

[E]

You keep saying that. I keep on giving you this list of all things we've done.

[D]

Talk about the recliners. I know you.

[F]

Okay, innovation, before we go to innovation.

[E]

Just the box office was over 11 billion five years in a row. Then it was two. That's a real kick in the teeth. Then it was four And a half. Then it was seven and a half. Then without the Taylor Swift Beyonce movies it would have been 8 7, it was 9 because we invented those in like a few months. Then there were strikes that fell back to 8 7. Basically flat with the year before prior to. If you exclude Taylor and Beyonce, then this year when nobody knows exactly but call between 90 and 9 6, I think there's a fighting shot that next year is between nine and a half and ten and a half. We'll see. It's not back yet to pre Covid levels, but it's a lot stronger than it's been. Our profit per patron is up exactly 48% today versus pre Covid levels. So what we earn from just average consumer coming into a theater, our profits up by close to 50%. Why? They're buying more food and drink.

[D]

Popcorn buckets.

[E]

And they're buying merchandise. They're buying. We didn't have bars 10 years ago. We have 350 bars. Makes the movie better too.

[D]

Yeah.

[E]

But merchants merchandise. Three years ago we didn't sell any movie themed merchandise.

[D]

No, that is insane to me. I don't understand. You've got people like the theme parks know to put the gift shop right when you come out and the theaters.

[E]

Well, we learned it and. And right now we're pushing around $100 million a year of movie themed merchandise in our theaters from nothing three years ago. And this is how we survived Covid actually. Because we figured out other things to sell people.

[D]

So people have said for years that you should do lower prices during the week. You've had Tuesday discounts. You then this summer have switched to Wednesday also discounts. How did that happen when people have been saying this for a decade at least that you should have another night of discounts. Why did it take so long? And what is how does the split work with the studios when you are charging 50% of ticket prices?

[E]

So I want to give someone credit. I come out. You know, we're based in Kansas City where three vaudeville act. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Chiefs Travis, Kelsey. I got it.

[D]

Don't minimize that, please.

[E]

I'm not.

[D]

It's a big moment for both of them.

[E]

For the whole world. Yeah, I know. I have the greatest respect. Just remember we did a Taylor Swift movie two years ago. I have the greatest words cannot describe how much respect appreciation I have.

[D]

Do you want to FaceTime Scott? Her father? You've tweeted a lot about her.

[E]

I do. Because we owe her a lot. We made a lot of money on the ERAS tour movie Anyway.

[D]

So did.

[E]

She, and she deserves it. But anyway, how did we get there?

[D]

The 50. 50% off.

[E]

50% off. To give somebody credit. We're based in Kansas City. I come out to Hollywood kind of every six, eight weeks personally. And I usually make the rounds and see a lot of people. And I was in a meeting at Sony and Tom with Tom Rothman. The head of Sony.

[D]

Yeah, the head of Sony.

[E]

I took my head off and he said, movies are too expensive. And literally a light bulb went off.

[D]

That can't be true.

[E]

I swear to God, it took a.

[D]

Meeting with Tom Rothman to think that maybe a 50% night would be good to double. The numbers on Tuesdays have been larger than the rest of the week for years.

[E]

Well, he wanted me to cut prices seven days a week. And I said that would probably be a disaster because there are many markets where we tried to cut prices and all it does is cut our income. But I swear a light bulb went off in that meeting and I thought, it's finally time to try. Let's take discount Tuesdays and turn into discount Wednesdays.

[D]

But do you eat that? Do the studios still charge you the same for the rental and then you have to eat the difference?

[E]

No, they still get the same percentage of the gross on Wednesdays that they got before. It's just prices are low.

[F]

They want to make it up on volume.

[E]

And what we. What we. But what. But we. Like the law says that studios are not allowed to participate in our pricing strategies. But the reality is. No, it's not. We're not going to break, not going to break the law. But we need to build like, we're a real company with like, like real money at stake. And we have real part. We have real, real partners and real partnerships. And if we just go off half cocked and do crazy things, that's not a good way to win friends and.

[D]

Influence people, like posting memes of yourself as an ape on Twitter.

[E]

That's okay. They don't care. But when we do something big, we like to build consensus. So we ran around their major studios and said, we're thinking about doing for Wednesdays what we did for Tuesdays. And we delivered your speech. Look, Tuesdays are our highest patronage midweek day, and we get so much more income on a Tuesday than we get on a Monday or Wednesday. We should try this for Wednesdays also. And their first reaction was, I don't know. But we went at it for a couple of weeks.

[D]

So is it working?

[E]

Seems to. It's a little early to declare victory. We've seen. It's only been in place since July 2 and 3. And what, we're only like seven or eight weeks into it. We definitely have seen attendance spikes. It's not clear to me yet that the attendance spike is more than the price cut, but the attendance spike. So we might be a little behind this last month and a half, but the attendance spike is so dramatic that it's clear that people are seeing the message. And I think if we stay at this for a while, we have the chance to make Wednesday a strong day rather than a weak W E A K weekday. Weak weekday.

[F]

Why is there not more variable pricing in general? Right? Like you have a big movie that comes out on a weekend, you know, everyone wants to see it. You could charge 20, 25, 30 bucks for it.

[D]

They do. You added a surcharge.

[F]

You have a movie in weekend three. You could just. Any movie, even on the weekend, could be a discount.

[E]

So we've tried it over and over, lots of different ways. Number one, we tried. Well, we just tried cutting prices. Like, that's a. Let me start with the pro consumer thing rather than the. Whoa. We raised price. We tried raising price on weekends. And once we started pushing above a $2 price premium, it looked like we went backwards, not forwards. I'm talking about the US Market now. It's very different in Europe. We tried that and that worked. We tried what we called blockbuster pricing, which we charged a couple of bucks more for a big movie title than a small movie title. When we launched blockbuster pricing, we launched it only for the first weekend, first weekend, second weekend. But then we reverted back to the regular price since about a year, a year and a half ago, on blockbuster pricing, we maintained the blockbuster surcharge for the whole length of the run. We've tried discounting movies at the end of the run. So many is the occasion where we'll. We call them $5 fan faves, where we'll discount prices at the end of a run because demand in the sixth week or the ninth week isn't what it was in the first week or second week. We tried one, famously that I still kicks me in the teeth that it didn't work, which is. We called it sightline seating.

[D]

Oh, yeah, I remember that.

[E]

And we tried to charge a higher price in the best seats of the house than we did in the worst seats of the house. And my recollection, these are not exact numbers, but close enough, like 80% of the gas. And by the way, these are not big surcharges. These are a buck or two. These aren't $10 and $20 surcharges because when we tested super premiums, it was clear there's enormous consumer pushback. Like 80% of our guests happily paid for the better seats. 10% of our guests moved from the better seats to the worst seats, which opens up the better seats for more people. But 10% of the people went to our competitors because none of our competitors matched us. And whatever we made from the 80% who paid a little more was dwarfed by the 10% who deserted us to our competition. So we had to abandon that effort. So I think that we have experimented with a lot of pricing, both up and down. And the most recent example is 50% off Wednesdays. And hopefully that's one I'd rather talk about the price experiments we went down than the price experiments where we went up. But hopefully this one will work because if we could make it cheaper for moviegoers to go see movies in a theater and make more money in the process, then everybody wins. If by cutting the price, we cut our own profits, that's probably not a good thing to do. But we're going to see what happens. But juries, it's long way too early to decide if it worked or not. But it seems to be working so far. That would be my guess.

[D]

All right, Lucas alluded it to. Alluded to it before. I want to get back to your relationship with the streamer services with Amazon, with Apple, we don't have to talk about Netflix, but you're making the rounds. What are you hearing from Apple on their willingness to put movies in theaters? They're very happy with F1. They still have not committed to robust theatrical releases for upcoming movies.

[E]

So let's talk about both of them. I think we have, I always say we. I mean amc, I think we've got superb relationship with Amazon, mgm, we have superb relationships now with Apple. We way over delivered. We really leaned into F1, both because it was a really good movie and because it was so important for us.

[D]

Yeah, if it failed, they were out.

[E]

And if they succeeded, we thought they would be in. And we've heard that from lots of levels at Apple and fortunately for us and for them, I think F1 was a big success. So while they've made no announcements, I'm hopeful that their success, I mean, this is one of the most successful.

[D]

Have they said that to you? What's that in your meetings? Has Apple said we are going to put our movies in theaters for a meaningful window?

[E]

I should let Apple safe for Apple. What Apple wants to say about Apple.

[D]

But did you leave those meetings feeling happy?

[E]

Yes, Very happy. Okay. And let's just say that we leaned in very hard to do our bit to help make sure that F1 succeeded. Because our bet was that if F1 succeeded, Apple would actually be a robust maker of movies. We'll find out together whether they are not, but I'm very happy for Apple at the results of that movie. This isn't their first effort, but this was a really big success.

[D]

Not embarrassing, which for Apple is good enough.

[E]

This is the difference between you and me.

[D]

No. $600 million.

[B]

That's nice.

[D]

It's better than not embarrassing.

[E]

Yeah.

[D]

They made their money back and it's a hit.

[E]

And not embarrassing is not charitable enough to Apple. Because it wasn't not embarrassing. No.

[D]

The reason I said it was embarrassing because the other movies were embarrassing. And unlike traditional movie studios that can say, we release all movies, all types, we have flops and hits. It was a PR drag for them, which for Apple is unacceptable. So that's why I missed Apple.

[E]

Apple is used to success. Yeah. Well, and I just want to say. Yeah, and I'm glad for them that F1 was a success. I'm glad for us that Apple had a very successful movie. And remember my whole premise on why streamers should want robust, adaptive releases. I'll bet you that when F1 hits the apple streaming service, it's an immensely successful title rather than it's just one more movie that you've never heard of on a streaming service. And so I hope that Apple will release more movies. I think that Apple will release more movies, but I know that this one was something that they should be very proud of and deserve all kinds of accolades. And it's not just Apple. Same with Amazon.

[D]

Well, that's the thing. Amazon has committed to releasing movies in theaters. They have not committed to what the windows will be for that movie. And I know that several of the theater chains were annoyed with what they did with Red One, the Dwayne Johnson movie this past holiday season, where it was in theaters for Thanksgiving but on the service by Christmas. And that window is typically not enough for you.

[E]

Although you'd be amazed how many studios are releasing art I'll call not movies of that size. You'd be amazed how many movies some studios, not all, are, excuse the French, cheating on the 45 day window, but.

[D]

Typically in premium video on demand, not putting it on prime video, which is available to most Americans.

[E]

That's also accurate. Having said that, look, I'm A firm believer that when Covid came, every studio experiment with all sorts of stuff. Take movies just to streaming services. Disney did some of that on Disney. Warner Brothers under Kyla, remember, took movies to the home and theater on the same day. That was a disaster.

[D]

I didn't think you could say his name.

[E]

I have a little twitch.

[D]

Jason Kylar.

[E]

Yeah, they experiment with everything. And where we supposedly landed up was the old 74 day window was gonna be a 45 day window. And what's happened is, I don't know, half the movies are a 45 day window. Disney's movies are all a 60 day window. But there are a lot of movies that are hitting the home at 25 to 35 days. And we think it's really important, I think that we'll never get back to a 74 day window again. But it'd be nice to actually adhere to a 45 day window. It's gonna be something that will appeal to some studios and be a fist fight with others.

[D]

But they haven't guaranteed or said that they're committed to that.

[E]

Who's the then?

[D]

Amazon?

[E]

No, but neither is anybody else other than Disney. You talked earlier.

[F]

I'm curious about how the key to AMC success is that your customers have a better experience than at other chains. Do you feel like extending the window is a good customer experience?

[E]

Look, as you phrase the question, I assume that if movies could go to the home for free on day one, that would be the thing that consumers might, some consumers might like the most.

[D]

They'd also prefer that they be free in general. They'd prefer that your theaters be free.

[E]

I understand that. But going to a movie theater and seeing as Nicole Kidman says, dazzling images on a huge silver screen, oh my.

[D]

God, it's like crack. They love it.

[E]

Do you know that there are bumper stickers in T shirts with phrases from the Nicole Kibbin commercials?

[D]

I believe it.

[E]

All over America.

[D]

Yeah. Why aren't you selling those in your theaters?

[E]

Maybe we should.

[D]

You should.

[E]

There we go.

[D]

They would sell in lad.

[E]

Ryan, write that one down. Ryan. Yeah, but coming back to seeing movies in a movie theater is something that Americans have done for more than a century. And no, it's like, yes, there are. You know, there have been other inventions along the way. So not as many people see movies today in theaters as they did in 1930, but it's still a wonderful experience and it's done 800 million times a year in this country. And a little known statistic, if you. And by the way, it's a really cheap date, even at what we charge in la. Where are you going to find two or three hours of out of home experience in a nice setting in a comfortable place for 12 bucks across the country, on average, 18, probably 17. 18 here in LA.

[D]

Try 22 on a Friday night, but.

[E]

We'Ll let that slide only if you see an mplf. But I think that preserving for your kids and their kids the chance to see movies in a movie theater 20 years from now and 50 years from now and 80 years from now, that's a good thing. And people, I mean, look, if Covid taught us anything, it's like your house, your apartment's really nice, but you don't want to spend every moment imprisoned in it. You want to get out, you want to go do something. I remember it was like sometime in late 2020, and I actually left my house and I went to Home Depot and I spent three hours there. And it was like the most exciting thing I'd done in six months. I was so, wow, look at this place. It's amazing what they have here. And I want to do that for your kids and your grandkids. I want to preserve that theaters still exist and that theaters are still viable and you can go to your movieplex down the street and watch a movie on a big screen. And so that's why the windows thing is so important.

[D]

Are you getting teary listening to this?

[E]

If we can convince in the theater every day, if we can convince studios, and this is a big if, because we'll get there with some, we're already there with Disney, we'll get there with others. If we can convince every studio, which might be a pipe dream to think of, but we can convince everybody that they should, like, religiously adhere to a 45 day window, I think that makes movie theaters more profitable. Movie theaters being more profitable means we can sustain ourselves as an industry. And it means your kids and your grandkids get to go watch movies in movie theaters 50 years from now. I think that's a good thing.

[D]

All right, we are coming to the end of our journey here.

[E]

As opposed to free, free, free at home.

[D]

Yes, we're coming to the end of our journey.

[E]

Do you.

[D]

Do you. Do you regret doing this? Are you happy you did this interview?

[E]

It's great.

[D]

Is your PR guy going to say the same backstage?

[E]

I'll ask him. I don't know. I.

[D]

He told me he didn't come out and stop the interview.

[E]

So, no, but he told me not to be funny. And they've been laughing all that.

[D]

So do you have any other questions? I have a couple, but we don't need to get.

[E]

He said I should have a couple. He said I should be a boring CEO type and just like, oh, but that's fun. That's what I.

[D]

Okay, yeah, one last question. You can have the last one here.

[F]

You mentioned at the beginning how you'd spent the last 10 years trying to figure out how to get that 14% occupancy up. And you keep referring to your theaters as movie theaters. And I feel like one of the things that people have talked about and tried is programming things that are not movies. Do you think there will ever be a point at which you see a movie theater as something that isn't just for movies? And if so, what will it be for?

[E]

Well, you are so. I mean, you are. I just come and tell you you're right or wrong. He's so right.

[D]

I had that too.

[E]

Okay, I'll give that one to you then. Literally earlier today I talked to one of my senior vice presidents. We've got to get sports rights. We just got to get sports rights. We've been trying for years, mostly unsuccessfully. We showed for three seasons, we showed NFL games. We showed all the wrong games. No, we did. We got the rights from DirecTV and what they had the rights for were what are called the out of market games. And what I found out is that in Chicago they don't want to watch Seattle play Jacksonville, they want to see the Bears and in Denver they want to see the Broncos. And you know, and, and I guess in la, I mean when I lived in la, I lived in LA a long time ago, there wasn't even a football team here. But there are, I guess you want to watch the Rams and the Chargers in la, but people wanted. So we've been shown the wrong games.

[D]

Well, COSM is essentially that.

[F]

I was going to say, do you like. You see cosm? You see the sphere? Do you feel like, I mean, sphere is a little expensive, but do you feel like that should be in a movie theater?

[E]

Well, if you know what it costs to build a COSM with. It's very. I went to check it out. I would say that the cost of COSM just sort of remembering while since I looked was like 30 times what it cost to build one movie theater auditorium. So we probably couldn't put that in 850 locations with 10 screens. But I do think that. I know because I went to see some of the wrong NFL games in our theaters. And watching a football game on a 55 foot screen is pretty good. Yeah.

[D]

Why don't you do Monday Night Football? That's Disney. You have a relationship with Disney. They could distribute Monday Night Football via your theaters.

[E]

We got really close, but we, we. We weren't able. We. We got Disney on board. We weren't able to get the NFL on board.

[D]

Why not? They want. They want the content in more places.

[E]

Ask the NFL. Okay, I got to send a cease and desist letter.

[D]

Oh, wow.

[E]

Yeah. But having said that.

[D]

You say we need to fill our theaters on Monday nights.

[E]

I completely agree, but. But Sports rights is one. Earlier today I talked. That's not today. Yesterday I talked to an important executive about maybe live streaming concerts into our theaters around the country. Because we have the capability right now to take at 277 of our 540 US theaters. We can actually live broadcast into a theater. So that's an interesting idea. The biggest idea I'm working on. I can't talk to you about.

[D]

Really. Oh, yeah, you can. We're amongst friends.

[E]

Not till January or February.

[D]

Super Bowl.

[E]

No, no. It's not sports. Okay. But if we can pull this one off. This is a really amazing idea, but we haven't pulled it off yet. So I.

[D]

The Taylor Travis wedding. Call Scott Swift right now.

[E]

One thing I learned about, the one thing I never joke about is Taylor Swift.

[D]

Oh, God. All right, you and me both.

[E]

I just am very reverent. As she properly deserves.

[D]

All right, Adam.

[G]

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[H]

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[E]

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[H]

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[D]

Aaron, thank you very much. Appreciate it.