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AMC today announced the upcoming launch of a new movie-watching service that's designed to compete with MoviePass, allowing AMC customers to watch several movies per week for a monthly fee.

While MoviePass permits customers to watch one movie per day for $9.95 per month, there have been questions about its long-term sustainability. AMC's "Stubs A-List" offering will let customers watch three movies per week for $19.95 plus tax, which it claims is a "sustainable price."

amcstubsalist-800x450.jpg

MoviePass does not permit customers to watch more than one movie per day or to rewatch movies they've already seen once, both features that are included in the Stubs A-List program.

Stubs A-List can be used at all AMC, AMC Dine-in, and AMC Classic theatres in the United States, with other perks that are not available through MoviePass. Customers can book tickets online in advance, including at AMC Theatres with reserved seating, and it includes IMAX, Dolby Cinema, RealD 3D, Prime, and Big D movies.

Movie tickets can be purchased at AMC Theatres, on the AMC website, or through the AMC Theatres app, available for iOS and Android.

AMC's new offering also includes all of the benefits of its AMC Stubs Premiere program, with "VIP service levels" at theatres, no online ticketing fees, and discounts on food and beverages, such as free upgrades on popcorn and soda.

Stubs A-List will be available starting on Tuesday, June 26.

Article Link: AMC Launches 'Stubs A-List' MoviePass Competitor for $19.99 Per Month, Launching June 26
 

Lord Hamsa

macrumors 6502a
Jul 16, 2013
698
675
Let's see if Regal comes out with something similar. Much more convenient for my location.

Plus, I'm curious to see if this has an age restriction like MoviePass does. My 13-yo son would probably get WAY more use out of this (especially during the summer) than I would.
 

macduke

macrumors G5
Jun 27, 2007
13,100
19,598
When I was a teenager we had a similar program. It was called "Become friends with an AMC employee." The way it worked was you would buy a ticket with said employee on their day off early in the morning, and then you would go from theater to theater watching every movie showing during the day while the other employees looked the other way. We would do that about once a month or so. I saw nearly every movie in the theater that came out between 2001-2003. Lots of people did this and it was a great deal.

Now that I'm an adult with young children I only get to go to the movies a few times per year so this is useless to me. Maybe someday. What I would prefer is a similar program for renting movies, along with that idea Apple was working on for being able to rent movies that are showing in theaters at a higher price. Netflix just doesn't cut it anymore.
 

aneftp

macrumors 601
Jul 28, 2007
4,362
546
I don’t care for 3d/imax movies. Movies at my luxury recliner movie theatre cost $9 off peak. $11 peak. In Orlando area.

I have movie pass. $7/month.

Even if movie pass is not sustainable. $20 a month for amc program isn’t a good deal for me personally. I don’t even abuse movie pass. I have seen a total of 18 movies in the 7.5 months I have had MoviePass. So around 2-3 movies a month.

I think Sinemia at $7 (2 movies 2D) of $10 (3D/imax) a month for 2 movies is a better deal (for me).
 
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JohnApples

macrumors 68000
Mar 7, 2014
1,634
2,776
I’m loving moviepass for the most part right now. Essentially 30 movies a month at nearly any theater in my area, for $9.99/mo.

The only negative I have is their customer service is horrible. Still, I’ll see as many movies as I can on their dime until they go under.
 
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ftaok

macrumors 603
Jan 23, 2002
6,485
1,571
East Coast
When I was a teenager we had a similar program. It was called "Become friends with an AMC employee." The way it worked was you would buy a ticket with said employee on their day off early in the morning, and then you would go from theater to theater watching every movie showing during the day while the other employees looked the other way. We would do that about once a month or so. I saw nearly every movie in the theater that came out between 2001-2003. Lots of people did this and it was a great deal.
When we were kids, we had a few different ways to see lots of movies for "free" or "reduced price".

1. Sneak in - Tell the usher you're just coming in to play viedo games, then sneak into the theater when the ushers aren't paying attention.
2. Split ticket - you pair up with a buddy. Buy one ticket. Rip it in half and each buddy would walk in with a "validated" stub.
3. Back door entry - one guy buys a ticket, goes into the theater and opens up the back exit for the rest of the gang to sneak in.

I remember one time where we shoved silly-putty into the strike plate of the exit door so that we could open it from the outside and sneak in. That lasted about a week before they found the silly-putty so we lost that entry.

Saw a lot of movies when I was a kid. Lots of R-rated movies too.
 
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Kingrsmchugh

macrumors newbie
Aug 29, 2012
28
23
Let's see if Regal comes out with something similar. Much more convenient for my location.

Plus, I'm curious to see if this has an age restriction like MoviePass does. My 13-yo son would probably get WAY more use out of this (especially during the summer) than I would.

The company that recently bought Regal out has an unlimited pass in England. I imagine it’ll eventually make its way across the pond.
 
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stoopkidblues

macrumors 6502
Mar 21, 2014
419
254
I like how AMC was complaining to get on board with MoviePass and “didn’t see how it was sustainable,” only to release a version of their own. *eye roll*

That being said it is more convenient seeing as I don’t have to be near the theater to order my ticket, can reserve ahead of time and see IMAX/Dolby (which, sidenote, Dolby is AMAZING and everyone should watch movies in that format), etc.

But I’ll say for us Millennials, $19.99 is probably still too high. Sure, cue the “but think of all the perks over MoviePass,” comments and I think most would still choose MoviePass’ limitations for the cheaper price. At this point theaters need to just focus on getting people back in the doors and I think this is a great first step but a lot of it has to do with just all around crappy movies being released on the regular (because people will dish out ~$15 to see blockbuster hits) and the price of concessions (because do I REALLY need to pay $20+ for a few snacks???)

I think $14.99 is the way to go here now that there’s competition.
 

archer75

macrumors 68040
Jan 26, 2005
3,116
1,746
Oregon
We only have 2 AMC theaters here and not conveniently located. Everything else is Regal. But if you want to go to the best theaters you go to Cinetopia. Just a small chain but they have the best projectors and sound.
 
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thadoggfather

macrumors P6
Oct 1, 2007
15,537
16,249
All of this nonsense is going to just drive up the single admission prices.

How?

If anything it devalues the price of admission. And even if this and MoviePass collapse people will be used to one small flat fee for one movie a day

There is no going back, it’s like the Spotifyification or Netflixication for movie theaters
 

JohnApples

macrumors 68000
Mar 7, 2014
1,634
2,776
How?

If anything it devalues the price of admission. And even if this and MoviePass collapse people will be used to one small flat fee for one movie a day

There is no going back, it’s like the Spotifyification or Netflixication for movie theaters

Exactly, moviepass is doing what Netflix and Pandora (or whatever was the first "big hit" internet radio station) did: disrupt a static entertainment service by creating a subscription-based model for users to consume larger amounts of content.

Movie theaters make most of their money through concessions anyway- it would be in their best interest to not raise ticket prices more than their already-high prices. Especially since movie theater attendance has been in decline.
 

illmatic41

macrumors regular
Aug 19, 2012
201
187
This is just AMC's deathblow to put MoviePass out of business. Once MoviePass is gone, AMC will no longer offer this subscription and let people play out their last months of it....then it'll be back to business as usual.
 

cerote

macrumors 6502a
Mar 2, 2009
843
269
When I was a teenager we had a similar program. It was called "Become friends with an AMC employee." The way it worked was you would buy a ticket with said employee on their day off early in the morning, and then you would go from theater to theater watching every movie showing during the day while the other employees looked the other way. We would do that about once a month or so. I saw nearly every movie in the theater that came out between 2001-2003. Lots of people did this and it was a great deal.

Now that I'm an adult with young children I only get to go to the movies a few times per year so this is useless to me. Maybe someday. What I would prefer is a similar program for renting movies, along with that idea Apple was working on for being able to rent movies that are showing in theaters at a higher price. Netflix just doesn't cut it anymore.
I lived in a small town for part of my life. My friend's family owned the small theater there. Free movies anytime and even had some pretty awesome parties there.
 
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JohnApples

macrumors 68000
Mar 7, 2014
1,634
2,776
This is just AMC's deathblow to put MoviePass out of business. Once MoviePass is gone, AMC will no longer offer this subscription and let people play out their last months of it....then it'll be back to business as usual.

I don't doubt that this is AMC's response to moviepass and that they're planning on MP going out of business. But I also don't think they'll abandon it afterwards.

A couple of interesting things I noticed on the website that weren't mentioned here... First, you have to "lock in" to a 3-month commitment. Also, you're "guaranteed" that your membership price won't increase for 12 months. Which leads me to believe that they plan on increasing pricing somewhere down the line... probably when moviepass is gone.
 
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