AMC Theatres

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A 16-screen AMC Theatres multiplex in the Woodland Hills area of Los Angeles, California.

A 20-screen AMC Theatres megaplex in Torrance, California.

A 30-screen AMC Theatres megaplex in Ontario, California.

AMC Theatres, or American Multi-Cinema Theatres, is one of the largest movie theatre chains in the United States. It was the only chain out of the 12 largest chains in North America that did not go bankrupt during the 2001-2002 recession, due in part to the fact that its theatres often dominate lists of the top 50 most profitable theatres in North America. Its mascot is the animated filmstrip "Clip," who stars in the pre-show policy trailers.

History

The company was founded in 1920 by former traveling showman Edward Durwood with one single-screen movie theatre in Kansas City, Missouri. At a time when vaudeville was on its last legs, Durwood correctly grasped that motion pictures were the future of the entertainment industry. His small chain of single-screen theatres was moderately successful. Durwood's son, Stanley, subsequently attended Harvard University and served in the U.S. Air Force during World War II.

In 1960, Stan Durwood took control of Durwood Theatres, renamed it American Multi-Cinema, and began to apply military management and the insights of management science to revolutionize the movie theatre industryLa Franco, Robert. "Coming soon: a megaplex near you." Forbes, 12 August 1996, p. 133.. As he later explained to Variety, "We needed to define what our company was doing in the (exhibition) business. My dad wasn't that organized."Anonymous. "Durwood legacy packs 'em in." Variety, 16 March 1998, p. 42.

AMC opened the first American multiplex (a two-screen facility) in 1963 in Kansas City. Durwood later claimed that "in 1962 he was standing in the lobby of his 600-seat Roxy in Kansas City mulling over its poor grosses when he realized he could double his box office by adding a second screen and still operate with the same size staff."Klady, Leonard. "[Obituaries: Stanley Durwood]." Variety, 19 July 1999, p. 40. This insight arises from the fact that the real-time labor demands of a movie theatre are not constant. Rather, they come in bursts at the start and end of the movie. At the start, a large number of employees have to sell tickets, process tickets at an access point, sell food at the concession stand (a theatre's primary profit center), make sure the theatre is not overcrowded, and run the film projector. While the movie plays, a small number of employees are needed for security and access control, while the others are relatively idle. At the end of the movie, a number of employees are needed to clean the theatre for the next showing. When the start times for movie showings in several physically connected auditoriums are staggered correctly, one team can continually keep all of them operational with minimal downtime.

In retrospect, Durwood's idea seems simple, but it took a lot of trial and error to get the bugs out. Next, Durwood followed up on the two-screen Roxy with a four-screen theatre in 1966 and a six-screen theatre in 1969.

AMC also pioneered the first American megaplex when it opened the AMC Grand 24 in Dallas, Texas in 1995, though the first megaplex in the world had been built by European chain Kinepolis in 1988. AMC has continued to open megaplex theatres and now operates the busiest theatre in the country at the AMC Empire 25 theatre in New York City, New York, located in Times Square. The AMC E-Walk 13, a former Loews flagship theatre now branded as an AMC (although AMC is required to divest the theater in 2006 to satisfy antitrust requirements), is located directly across 42nd Street, making 42nd Street the busiest moviegoing location in the United States, and for the moment, operated solely by AMC.

AMC operates its flagship theatre at the AMC Studio 30 theatre in Olathe KS near where the company world headquarters are in Kansas City, MO. The busiest and most popular AMC theaters are found at AMC Empire 25 in New York, AMC Neshaminy 24 in Pennsylvania, AMC Mesquite 30 in Texas, AMC Studio 30 in Texas, AMC Grapevine Mills 30 in Texas, AMC Mesa Grand 24 in Arizona, AMC Ontario Mills 30 in California, AMC The Block 30 in California, AMC Mercado 20 in California, AMC Covina 30 in California, AMC Mission Valley 20 in California, AMC Hoffman Center 22 in Virginia, AMC Tysons 16 in Virginia, AMC Cantera 30 in Illinois, AMC Forum 30 in Michigan, AMC Easton Town Centre 30 in Ohio and AMC Pleasure Island 24 on the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.

AMC has also been a major innovator in terms of raising industry standards for customer comfort; it was the first American chain to install cup holders in armrests and to construct theatres with stadium-style seating, where the seat rows have a steep vertical offset so that each person is less likely to block the view of the person behind them. Both these items have become standard for nearly all new theaters. Stadium-style seating has made AMC into a popular target for ADA lawsuits by disability rights activists, as the vertical offset makes it impossible for a wheelchair-bound patron to sit anywhere except the front 4-5 non-stadium rows, except in larger auditorium. Litigation is ongoing, but reports are that AMC intends to remodel many of their older stadium-seat auditoriums, at great expense.

AMC has also had some disastrous flops, such as trying to sell microwave popcorn (that is, in place of the usual kettle-popped popcorn), replacing their usual popping oil with canola oil (resulting in a fishy smell throughout the theater) and experimenting with 16 mm film for projection. They also stumbled by agreeing to install the Sony Dynamic Digital Sound system in all their new locations, rather than the more popular Dolby Digital or DTS systems, forcing many films to play in inferior analog sound at brand new locations. With the recent demise of SDDS, they now install Dolby Digital in all new locations, and are slowly retrofitting the older megaplexes at much higher expense.

In March 2002, AMC bought General Cinemas Companies Inc., which added 621 screens to the company assets. On January 26, 2006, AMC merged with Loews Cineplex Entertainment; AMC was the winning corporation and formed AMC Entertainment Inc. The new company now operates about 415 theatres with 5,672 screens in 29 states (plus Washington, D.C.) and 11 other countries.

MovieWatcher Program

AMC is known for its innovative MovieWatcher program that rewards guests for loyalty to the company by giving them rewards every time they watch a movie at an AMC Theater. Every ticket is worth two points, and one can receive four points per day. Every 10 points, a guest will receive a reward, and every time they visit they will receive a coupon.

• 10, 40, 70 points: Free Small Popcorn
• 20, 50, 80 points: Free Small Drinks
• 30, 60, 90 points: Large Drink & Large Popcorn or Free Ticket
• 100 points: Free Night at the Movies (Drink, Popcorn, and Ticket)

References