AMC's Movie Subscription Service Grows to 700K Members

The mega-movie chain says its program has resulted in 14 million trips to its cinemas.

MoviePass may be on life support, but other ticket subscription services continue to grow. AMC Theatres' monthly program now has more than 700,000 members after adding another 100,000 patrons in January and February.

The service, launched last June as an alternative to MoviePass, has resulted in 14 million trips to AMC cinemas, including additional tickets purchased for family and friends of AMC Stubs A-List subscribers.

“Members are seeing many more movies than they did before A-List was created, are seeing movies more than once and they’re bringing their friends and family members along, who are paying for their tickets at full price," AMC CEO and president Adam Aaron said Wednesday in a statement.

The subscription service allows moviegoers to see three films a week in any format for either $19.95, $21.95 or $23.95 a month, depending upon the state.

Stubs A-List members also enjoy all the discounts and benefits of AMC Stubs Premiere, including free upgrades on popcorn and soda, free refills on large popcorn, express service at the box office and concession stand and no online ticketing fees.

Meanwhile, Cinemark said Friday that its Movie Club grew 26 percent in three months to 560,000 members and that it will soon combine the $8.99 monthly service with its free loyalty program to create Cinemark Movie Rewards. The nation’s third-largest chain (341 theaters in 41 states) created Movie Club in December 2017, four months after MoviePass made a splash by lowering its one-ticket-per-day subscription service to a ridiculously cheap $10 a month.

Stock in MoviePass’ parent company Helios and Matheson Analytics has sunk 99 percent to less than a penny a share, but Movie Club is on fire. Cinemark CEO Mark Zoradi told Wall Street analysts last week that Movie Club has a 96 percent satisfaction level among users.

The service allows members to buy tickets online without a fee — a shot at Fandango — and the CEO says 13 million tickets have been sold that way thus far. Movie Club “is helping to drive attendance and box office,” said Zoradi. “While our food and beverage prices are slightly reduced, members are buying a larger quantity than nonmembers.”

Movie Club users get one ticket a month, plus 20 percent snack-bar discounts, and Zoradi largely credits the program for increasing concession sales by $102 million in 2018. Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter is bullish on Cinemark Movie Rewards, which will likely launch in May: “We expect this to drive both membership and loyalty, along with engagement."