AMC Entertainment President and CEO Adam Aron downplayed reports that the exhibitor would support Sean Parker’s Screening Room proposal to allow consumers to stream new movies at home for $50 on the day they open in theaters.
On a first-quarter 2016 conference call, one media analyst asked Aron what he thinks about the venture, as well as the controversial shrinking of windows between movies’ release in theaters and distribution at home on VOD.
“It has been widely reported in the press that the one circuit that has been intrigued by Screening Room is AMC,” Aron said. “We’ve made no public comment about Screening Room, and I don’t think it’s probably wise to make a public comment about Screening Room today.”
“It’s still just an idea,” he continued. “Until such time when they have studios signed on and product to offer, it’s just an idea.”
Aron concluded: “We’ll save our Screening Room commentary for private conversations between us and our studio partners, rather than fighting it out in the press whether Screening Room is a good idea.”
He also defended the idea of a gap between a movie’s theatrical release and its availability to home consumers.
“Fundamentally, we believe in windows,” Aron said. But he admitted the company is willing to talk with studio partners about “being creative around the edges of windows” — like they did last fall with several low-budget Paramount horror movies.
Read about AMC’s actual Q1 earnings here.