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AMC Theatres, a national fast food chain serving popcorn and mediocre nachos that often shows movies too, made headlines after airing an ad before Wicked screenings warning audiences against singing along. That didn’t stop musical theater fans from turning out in full force over the weekend though, as the chain’s domestic takings hit an all-time high for the weekend before Thanksgiving.
Despite the record revenues this particular blockbuster weekend, which were also due — albeit in a smaller part — to Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II, AMC isn’t really in a great position to be kicking moviegoers out of its theaters, with quarterly revenues still sitting below where they were pre-pandemic.
Still, a recently-announced raft of singalong Wicked specials in December could help. And, in other good news for the chain, concession stands were reportedly swamped too, with much of AMC’s Wicked merch reportedly selling out midway through the weekend. Big lines at theater food and drink counters shouldn’t come as a surprise though: AMC has got really good at selling mountains of popcorn, drinks, and tasty treats — in fact, its business model depends on it.
According to Nicole Kidman’s infamous pre-movie ad we come to AMC theaters “for magic… to laugh, to cry, to care”. But, per AMC’s financials, she forgot “to eat”. In the last quarter, the company’s food and beverage offerings raked in some $490 million from food and drinks.
Furthermore, as anyone who actually pays the extortionate prices at AMC will unhappily tell you, the markups on the chain’s food and drinks are astonishing. For every $10 that moviegoers spend on hot dogs, nachos, popcorn, and soda, it only costs AMC $1.84 in food and beverage costs.
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