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On Wednesday, AMC Theatres amped up the movie subscription rivalry it has with MoviePass by announcing AMC Stubs A-List, a $20-a-month service that lets you see three movies per week.
The announcement didn't just ruffle the feathers of MoviePass, but made moviegoers pause for a brief moment and figure out if it was worth it to sign up for another service.
AMC's service (launching June 26) may be double what MoviePass is, but you get more perks like being able to see IMAX and Real 3D movies, and see the same movie multiple times. However, with MoviePass you get to see more movies per month at less of the cost, and you can go to almost any theater in the US to use the service (not just AMC theaters).
Conflicted? Us too. Here's the tale of the tape:
Samantha Lee, Business Insider
Honestly, there's no clear winner here.
But if you're looking long term, it's possible AMC will be the better play. AMC is the largest theater chain in the world. That has its perks. Soon after announcing the launch of Stubs A-List, IMAX announced that it would be in full cooperation with the service and that there would be no added charge to see IMAX movies through the A-List service.
And in an earnings call Wednesday afternoon, AMC CEO Adam Aron, while promising that "our program will be profitable," noted that those who come in early on the service will be guaranteed that $20 monthly price for the next year. Aron foresees the membership price going up or down depending on the marketplace.