Can AMC's 50% Wednesday discount boost midweek theater attendance? Details explored

Streaming wars, they say. But this is more like a war with streaming, it seems, especially when we see the latest move by AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. The largest cinema chain in the world is offering a 50% discount on adult movie tickets, reports Bloomberg. The deal will begin on July 9, 2025, but we can't say when this promotion will end.

This applies to those part of their Stubs reward program. That comes amid the tumultuous revenue streams in theaters, which are directly affected by the rise in streaming. Though we shouldn't put it as the only cause for this, the pandemic and recent Hollywood strikes have played a good part in it.

A recent financial report of the company also shows that theatrical attendance in the US markets has fallen by 11.8% in a year (between 2024 and 2025), while international markets were hit by 7.1%. This move might see moviegoers back in cinemas again.

AMC's presence in the market today is no short of a miracle

People walking past an AMC theater - Source: Getty

If you have been abreast of the news surrounding AMC, you already know it's a miracle that we are still seeing the company stay afloat in the market. Adam Aron, AMC Theaters CEO, himself mentioned this in one interview with Variety:

"We’re still here. When you think about what we’ve been through the past four years, it’s kind of a miracle. It could have gone kaplooey 10 times, but it didn’t. And good for us. We’re almost finally through it," he said.

He also shared how AMC tackled things to stay in the business. They even allowed digital currencies like Bitcoin as payments for movie tickets. He believes that retail shareholders of the company became the lifeline as they kept their investment in the stock.

Following the pandemic, the Hollywood box office has failed to see that $10 billion club. Between 2019 and 2020, the revenue fell by 81%, though it rebounded in 2021. For Avengers: Endgame, we can say that it was just in time or we might not be seeing it as the second-highest-grossing film at the box office as we see today.

Hollywood appears to be coming back to the lane, and it's a good sign

The famous Hollywood sign - Source: Getty

If we look at the domestic box office figures in the 21st century, it is still a far cry from its biggest year, which came in 2018. That year, it generated $11.8 billion in revenue with films like Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Incredibles 2, and more coming in All in all, 35 movies did a $100 million business at the time.

Fast forward to 2024, and the domestic box office earned $8.5 billion from releases. We are already 4 months into 2025, with $2.5 billion coming in from 293 releases. Fans are loving films like Thunderbolts*, now The New Avengers, and Sinners, which is also a nod to quality filmmaking. Something that's pivotal for pulling moviegoers back into theaters.

We still have some promising films like Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, 28 Years Later, and more coming in this year; they ought to attract a fair share of audience in theaters. We'll have to see if the 50% discount still persists for the AMC audience.