AMC Theatres is going to do it themselves. After the success of self-released concert films from Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, the major theater chain is launching its own film distribution label, Leawood Films, which will be led by an advisory team that includes former Warner Bros. film chairman Toby Emmerich.
Emmerich will be joined at the new label by former Disney marketing chief Ricky Strauss and former Bleecker Street distribution chief Kyle Davies, who will hold the same position at Leawood. Leawood Films will also partner with independent distribution companies such as Variance Films, which worked with AMC on the release of “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” and Piece of Magic Entertainment, which recently oversaw the European theatrical release of Glitch’s “The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act.”
Craig Jacobson, founding partner of entertainment law firm Hansen Jacobson, will represent Leawood Films. The label will be primarily headquartered in Los Angeles with offices also at AMC Theatres’ headquarters in Leawood, Kansas.
Leawood Films will operate on a distribution-only basis, acquiring theatrical rights to fully financed or completed films with no plans to get involved with production or development on projects. The movies will be prominently featured in AMC’s international circuit of films and will be marketed to its customers through AMC’s loyalty programs, social media channels and other promotional avenues. Leawood also plans to distribute films in non-AMC theaters, as AMC did with “The Eras Tour.”
“Leawood Films is being created with a straightforward objective, given that substantial excess capacity exists in the movie theatre industry: to bring more movies to theatres. If we can take steps to ensure that a few extra movies come to theatres each year, it is gravy for AMC in the United States and Odeon in Europe, as well as for our fellow exhibitors,” said AMC CEO Adam Aron.
“One of the keys to the success of our Taylor Swift and Beyoncé film projects in 2023 and 2025 was the extraordinarily successful cooperation we received from movie theatre circuits across the United States and around the world,” he continued. “We intend to take a collaborative approach with Leawood Films, and we look forward to working with exhibitors throughout our industry at home and abroad to bring compelling films to audiences everywhere. The movie theatre industry benefits when there are more high-quality films available to theatrical moviegoers, and that is exactly what this initiative is designed to achieve.”
In addition, AMC says that filmmakers who distribute their films through Leawood will be guaranteed a 45-day theatrical window to premium on-demand and a 90-day window to streaming. Filmmakers will also retain ownership of their films and control over post-theatrical release.
The arrival of Leawood Films is the latest development in a theatrical distribution landscape that has changed significantly since cinemas reopened after the COVID-19 pandemic. With major Hollywood studios slowing down their theatrical output for several years due to delays caused by the pandemic and the 2023 industry strikes, theaters turned to independent studios, alternative offerings like live sports and concert films, and theatrical releases of streaming series like “Stranger Things” and “The Chosen” to fill in the gaps left behind by the big theatrical players.
Even this year, these alternatives have left their mark on the box office as YouTube sensation Markiplier’s self-distributed horror film “Iron Lung” grossed $50 million worldwide during a box office slump.
“Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” and “Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé” were released by AMC and Variance in 2023 with this gap-filling in mind at a time when studios were delaying fourth quarter releases like “Dune: Part Two” due to not having actors around to promote those films because of the SAG-AFTRA strike. “The Eras Tour” became the highest-grossing concert film of all time with $261.6 million grossed worldwide, while “Renaissance” grossed a more modest but still successful $44 million from its release in the usually slow early December period.
“This is a modestly scaled initiative focused on taking to the big screen films that are fully financed by their film makers. We are aiming particularly to increase the number of small and mid-budget sized movies that get released theatrically. It is highly unlikely that Leawood Films will include blockbuster tentpole type releases. So, our Leawood Films effort is intended to complement, not compete with, the crucial work of our longstanding existing partnerships with major studios and key distribution partners,” Aron explained.
“Ultimately, moviegoers consistently demonstrate their appetite for a wide variety of theatrical content, and we believe there are more outstanding films that deserve the opportunity to find audiences on the big screen. Through Leawood Films, we believe we can bring meaningful value to filmmakers whose movies might otherwise not get made, or which might not be taken to theatres,” he added.
With Leawood Films still yet to make its first distribution deal and next year’s major studio slate still forming, AMC says that the new label’s first film will not hit the big screen until 2027 at the earliest.
