America's biggest movie theater chain, AMC Theaters, has launched its own on-demand video service where customers will be able to buy and rent movies.
AMC introduced its streaming platform AMC Theaters on Demand on Tuesday as an online store with around 2,000 available films, and with new releases to join after a standard theatrical run, The Verge reports. While Disney, Apple, Comcast, and AT&T are launching direct-to-consumer subscription streaming services, AMC’s is video-on-demand.
Studios like Warner Bros., Disney, Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures, and Paramount have signed deals with AMC to sell and rent movies—new releases and older titles—when their theater run concludes. Each movie will run between $3 and $5.99 to rent, and $9.99 to $19.99 to purchase.
With AMC Theaters on Demand, the chain hopes to increase its theater attendance. The company wants to grow its relationship with AMC Stubs members and A-List subscribers who pay almost $20 a month for access to new films. AMC is also set to offer the members of its more general Stubs loyalty program with additional benefits, like a free digital version of a movie they saw in theaters.
Over six million tickets for Disney’s The Lion King were bought through the Stubs program, according to the New York Times. Those people “will all get a personalized message from AMC saying that they can now enjoy it at home through AMC Theaters On Demand,” when the movie is digitally released on Tuesday, said AMC’s chief content officer Elizabeth Frank, per The Verge. This tactic is another way AMC can introduce more people to its on-demand service.
