AMC Is Launching A Streaming Service For Stubbs Members

(Deadline) “With its core exhibition business the subject of heated speculation about the future of release windows and the impact of Netflix on its business, AMC Theatres is responding by launching a streaming service of its own.

AMC Theatres on Demand will offer about 2,000 movie titles from distributors large and small, including releases from all major studios. Lionsgate and Paramount at launch have added an incentive, promising three additional movies to any customer who chooses one of the studios’ films as their first rental or purchase…

The service is only available to members of AMC Stubs, a free loyalty plan with more than 20 million U.S. households on its rolls. Those members can access the streaming service on AMCTheatres.com as well as through a range of connected devices and mobile and smart TV apps. AMC added the A-List subscription plan to Stubs in 2018 and offers a fee-based Stubs tier along with the basic, free membership”

First off, I disagree with the thought that Netflix alone is what is going to impact the theaters business. While Netflix is obviously at the vanguard of straight-to-stream, literally every single network either has or is going to launch their own service. There is already competitors like Hulu, HBO Go, Amazon Prime etc. and that’s not to mention Disney, Apple,  AT&T and Comcast’s all coming out soon. Amazon studios and HBO have both already made great straight-to-stream movies that rival Netflix’s, and the new platforms already have plans for a lot of the same.

With that out of the way, I think this a good idea for AMC. They reward people who are part of their loyalty program and it’s mutually beneficial for the studios. From our (the consumer) standpoint, it’s success will ride a lot on what titles they have available. If they come with mostly-shit tier movies gilded by 3-5 good ones, I think it will flop. If they come out swinging with a lot of recently-made hitters, it should boost their subscriber base a ton. Lionsgate has movies like the John Wick franchise, ‘A Simple Favor’, ‘La La Land’ and ‘Sicario’, while Paramount has ‘Rocketman’, ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ ‘Annihilation’ and ‘Jack Reacher’. I don’t think that will be their strategy, but that’s what would get me invested if I wasn’t already an AMC subscriber. If you can’t tell, I’m a Tom Cruise guy (Strictly in the bubble of cinema).