MW AMC is taking this bold move to capitalize on a booming box office

By James Rogers

Movie-theater chain and original meme stock AMC is slashing prices on Wednesdays for members of its loyalty program

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. is slashing prices on Wednesdays for members of its loyalty program as the movie-theater chain and original meme stock looks to tap in to the box office rebound.

Late Tuesday, AMC $(AMC)$ announced "50% off Wednesdays," offering Stubs members half off the adult evening base-ticket price all day on Wednesdays, starting July 9.

Related: AMC's revenue slides amid weakest first-quarter box office since 1996

The program will be available at all AMC's U.S. locations. As of March 31, AMC operated 540 theaters in the U.S.

AMC, which has 36 million Stubs members, said that additional charges for premium formats such as Imax at AMC, Dolby Cinema at AMC, PRIME at AMC, and RealD 3D apply, but the discount will be applied to the base evening price of those tickets. Certain holiday and time periods may be excluded from "50% off Wednesdays," but, if it is successful, the program will be almost universally available at AMC U.S. locations, the company said.

"Realistically, we could not afford to have made this change to our ticket pricing strategy until the box office showed true signs of sustained recovery," AMC Chief Executive Adam Aron said in a statement. "But in April and now in May, the box office has been booming, and the remainder of 2025 appears poised to continue that upward box office trend."

AMC shares are up 0.4% in premarket trades.

Last week, AMC beat Wall Street's revenue expectations in its first-quarter results, despite a weak box-office environment in the first three months of the year. However, Aron noted a booming box office since April 1, and highlighted forthcoming movies, such as Disney's $(DIS)$ "Lilo & Stitch"; Paramount Pictures' $(PARA)$ "Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning"; Sony Pictures Entertainment's $(SONY)$ (JP:6758) "Karate Kid: Legends" and "28 Years Later"; and Lionsgate's "From the World of John Wick: Ballerina."

The CEO also expects a box-office boost from blockbusters throughout the year, such as James Cameron's eagerly anticipated "Avatar: Fire and Ash," which opens in mid-December.

In a note released last week, Wedbush analyst Alicia Reese said that AMC is set to benefit from a box-office tailwind in the rest of 2025, but must now make cash its focus.

Related: AMC got a difficult quarter out of the way. Now cash is the focus.

The program is the latest effort by AMC to drive attendance at its theaters. Last year, the company announced its Go Plan, a $1.5 billion reinvestment effort to boost the moviegoing experience at its theaters.

Related: Consumer confidence has fallen, but these companies are seeing a spending uptick

AMC shares are down 31.4% in 2025, outpacing the S&P 500 index's SPX decline of 0.6%.

-James Rogers

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May 13, 2025 08:31 ET (12:31 GMT)

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