AMC Theatres is looking to lure customers back in a big way next week, announcing on Thursday that not only will the company be opening more than 100 locations nationwide on Aug. 20, but also offering tickets for just 15 cents.
The 15 cents for a ticket deal is good for opening day only. The price is roughly the amount it cost to watch a movie in 1920, the same year the company’s founders, the Dubinsky Brothers, began operations with a single movie screen in Kansas City, Missouri.
Over the course of the subsequent two weeks, leading up to the highly anticipated Sept. 3 release of Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet,” AMC will drastically ramp up the opening of additional locations. The movie exhibition giant–America’s largest with some 600 locations–is aiming to have some 400 theaters up and running by that time. Venues in some major markets, including New York and Los Angeles, are not expected to open until local restrictions are lifted.
“The remaining AMC locations will open after we get further clearance from state and local authorities that it is safe to do so,” the company wrote in an email to AMC A-List members.
The 15 cent opening night price will include a number of repertory films. Afterwards, AMC is planning on selling tickets to such titles for just $5. A couple of other new releases, such as the Russell Crowe thriller “Unhinged” and “The New Mutants,” will cost roughly $10, depending on the market.
“As for library titles, we will be showing all of these beloved movies on the big screens of AMC: “Back to the Future,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Black Panther,” “Bloodshot,” “Ghostbusters,” “Goonies,” “Grease,” “I Still Believe,” “Jumanji: The Next Level,” “Sonic the Hedgehog,” and “Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back,” the email further explains.
The initial wave of openings includes theaters in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Las Vegas, and St. Louis, among others. Both employees and audience members will be required to wear masks. Patrons can check to see if their local theater will be among the openings by clicking HERE.
