AMC Entertainment CEO and President Adam Aron on making a comeback amid vaccination efforts, Nicole Kidman starring in the newly-released AMC ad campaign and a potential relationship with GameStop.
AMC Theatres unveiled a new $25 million ad campaign on Wednesday that it says is the first of its kind for a theater chain.
AMC CEO Adam Aron joined FOX Business’ “The Claman Countdown” on Wednesday and showed off the company’s very first ad starring Hollywood star Nicole Kidman.
The ad will be aired nationwide on television, in theaters, and on social media starting Sunday, and AMC – the largest movie exhibitor in the world – says it’s a first for a theater chain to advertise itself.
When asked by host Liz Claman why AMC is launching the campaign now when it’s never been done before, Aron explained that “with three-fifths of the U.S. population vaccinated, Americans want to get out again.” That was evident for the chain over the Labor Day weekend, when AMC shattered records, outpacing its 2019 numbers for the first time since closing their theaters at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Nicole Kidman stars in a new $25 million ad campaign for AMC Theatres. (Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
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Aron also noted that “in the fourth quarter, there is an enormous slate of movies coming,”
“We want to tell people how amazing it is to see a movie in a theater again,” he added.
AMC Entertainment Holding Inc. was decimated by the pandemic shutdowns, and the company warned in 2020 that it was on life support. But the so-called meme stock has become a favorite of retail investors, and its share price is up more than 2,200% for the year.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMC | AMC ENTERTAINMENT HOLDINGS INC | 47.40 | -0.43 | -0.90% |
When asked about the possibility of AMC being targeted for a “mother of all short squeezes” (MOASS) by retail traders on Reddit’s WallStreetBets forum, Aron said his focus is on “restoring this company to help surviving this pandemic and leading us back to glory once again.”
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The CEO said AMC’s shareholder base has completely turned over in the last eight months, going from around 80% institutionally-owned to now roughly 80% retail investor-owned, telling “The Claman Countdown,” “Those shareholders of ours, they love our company, they love movies, they love going to our theaters and we are spending every waking moment trying to make this a strong, successful company again.”
He said the new ad campaign is an important step in AMC “playing offense.”