AMC Theatres’ new moviegoer subscription service, AMC Stubs A-List, has enrolled more than 175,000 subscribers, the company announced Tuesday.
The service hit the milestone just five weeks after the enrollment period started, and according to AMC, the surge in membership is well ahead of the company’s expectations. When the service was launched on June 26, AMC expected to hit 500,000 members one year after the launch and 1 million members two years after launch.
A-list is the new, premium VIP tier of the AMC Stubs loyalty program. Guests can see three movies per week for just $19.95 (plus tax) per month. In total, the current membership of AMC Stubs is 15.8 million U.S. households.
“We are nothing less than ecstatic about the early consumer response to AMC Stubs A-List, which encourages moviegoers to come to the theatre more often, bringing their family and friends with them,” said Adam Aron, AMC CEO and president. “With more than 175,000 members enrolled in just five weeks, the growth of AMC Stubs A-List has far exceeded our projections. We also find it reassuring that we consciously designed AMC Stubs A-List to be a profitable program with a price point that is loaded with consumer value while also being sustainable for us and for our guests.”
The news of AMC’s success comes in the midst of MoviePass’ uphill battle to stay afloat. On Tuesday, MoviePass announced that it would raise its monthly price to $14.95 from $9.95 and limit the access to virtually all wide-release movies during their first two weeks in theaters.
MoviePass parent company Helios & Matheson Analytics, whose stock has declined 98 percent in the last month, said the changes should help reduce costs and cut the company’s monthly burn by roughly 60 percent.
The news also follows massive complaints over the weekend from users who were not able to use the service to purchase tickets for the newly released “Mission: Impossible — Fallout.” While apologizing for the inconvenience on Friday, MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe noted that MoviePass was trying to make changes to the service to make it more profitable without increasing the $9.95-per-month subscription price.