Perhaps AMC stands for At the Movies Constantly. The film exhibitor announced Wednesday that, so far, 100,000 moviegoers have signed up this year for AMC Stubs A-List, the monthly flat-rate program that was launched in response to the popular but troubled MoviePass. According to The Hollywood Reporter, A-List now has a total of 700,000 members.
A-List costs anywhere between $19.95 and $23.95, varying from state to state. Under the plan, members can see as many as three movies per week, including IMAX and other special-format releases, meaning one could conceivably see Aquaman in 3-D twelve times in a single month (this is not advisable for numerous vision- and sanity-related reasons).
According to AMC, the A-List program has yielded about 14 million additional theater outings (though that figure also includes whatever friends and family members happen to come along). It was launched in response to MoviePass, the pay-per-month watch-as-much-as-you-want program that spurred endless media coverage and scrutiny last year, with moviegoers taking advantage of its constantly-changing rates and restrictions to see as many movies as possible.
But MoviePass was plagued by technical snafus, customer-service complaints, and public attacks from chains like AMC, which objected to the company’s approach, releasing a statement that the plan was “not welcome” at its theaters. By last fall, MoviePass appeared close to bankruptcy, though it wound up receiving an additional $65 million in financing.
Today, MoviePass offers monthly plans that range from $9.95 to $24.95, according to its website. As of last summer, the company reportedly had 3 million subscribers.