AMC charts promising fight against Netflix with 860K subscribers

Movie theaters are caught in a war over the nation’s couch potatoes — and they’re losing it to video-streaming services like Netflix.

The new battle plan for theaters: Be more like Netflix.

AMC, the US’s largest cinema chain, disclosed in late June that AMC Stubs A-List, its $20-per-month subscription service, has reached 860,000 members on its first birthday — a figure far higher than the 500,000 subscribers the company says it had expected.

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A-List allows subscribers to see up to three films per week — including in premium IMAX and 3-D formats — at any AMC theater. The company’s app lets users pick their showtime and seats right from their phone, and makes choosing a movie as easy as finding something to watch on HBO Go.

The result, experts tell The Post, is a business model that is designed to keep up with the times.

“The new generations are used to paying for things à la carte every month,” Jeff Bock, a senior box office analyst with Exhibitor Relations, tells The Post. “Movies should be no different.”

The subscription strategy, according to Bock, is “a way for theaters to reclaim their fanbase” and lure customers out of their living rooms and back into cinemas.

“They can’t control what product Hollywood puts out,” Bock said. “But they can incentivize their audiences to make commitments to their theater houses.”

Moviegoers are drawn to the service for the same reason they like Netflix: Even if they don’t see a movie in a given month, they will be able to make up for it later on, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter says.

“The consumer doesn’t feel cheated despite the fact that they paid for nothing,” Pachter told The Post.

Major theater chains Regal and Cinemark have yet to join the fray, though recent reports indicate that Regal may unveil an A-List competitor as soon as the end of this month.

The longer AMC’s competitors wait, the greater risk they run of losing customers to their rival for good, according to Pachter.

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“Recliners at AMC aren’t any less comfortable than the recliners at Cinemark,” he said. “Popcorn isn’t any saltier or greasier at one or the other. Why would I switch?”

Cinemark has a program that offers one 2-D movie ticket a month for $8.99 along with savings on concessions, but does not offer multiple monthly showings for a low, flat fee like AMC or its predecessor, MoviePass.

Streaming services are shelling out hundreds of millions to hoover up Hollywood-caliber talent. Apple has tapped Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg. Netflix has hired Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Shonda Rhimes. And Amazon has cut a deal with director J.A. Bayona.

In response, theaters are being forced to shore up their defenses.

“It’s not David versus Goliath when we talk about movies versus television and streaming anymore,” Bock says. “I think they’re on equal footing right now. But that can erode, and it might not erode in their favor.”

Unlike the ill-fated MoviePass, which charged $10 per month and shelled out many times that amount on tickets for its users, AMC A-List allows the theater to fill seats at no extra cost except for when a movie might otherwise be sold out.

The tradeoff, experts say, makes sense for AMC, which is faced with the challenge that impressive home-theater setups are increasingly cheap.

Just last week, Walmart was offering a 65-inch 4K TV for $450. AMC, meanwhile, countered by installing plushy recliners at all its theaters and improving food options.

The thinking goes that as long as people get in the door, they will enjoy the theater experience and keep coming back.

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“They love that people feel they’re saving money on tickets and spending more at the concession stand,” Bock says. “AMC is more than happy to offset some of the ticket costs because those just go to studios anyway.”

Indeed, studios often take a 50% cut in ticket sales, though the number can range as high as 60 or 70% for the first week’s gross of blockbusters, according to Bock.

Barrington Research Associates analyst James Goss notes that on top of selling more concessions, A-List is helping AMC gather data on its customers — something that will help it improve auditorium management and determine what movies to screen to fill more seats.

AMC Chief Executive Adam Aron “is a marketing guy at heart who has been involved with frequent flier programs at airlines, and he was with Starwood working on some of those loyalty programs,” Goss said.

“They all have an objective of creating loyalty and finding out enough about you to find something that you find appealing.”