AMC Theatres will slash ticket prices on Wednesdays this summer

AMC Theatres, the largest theater chain in the United States, will begin slashing ticket prices on Wednesdays this summer.

One catch: The discount applies only to members of AMC Stubs, the chain’s loyalty program, which is free to join. The program currently has 36 million members.

Beginning July 9, Stubs members can buy Wednesday movie tickets at a 50% discount off the adult-evening base ticket price all day long, according to a news release from AMC. Additional charges for premium formats such as IMAX and 3D will apply, and certain movies and holiday time periods may be excluded. The Wednesday discount is in addition to the Tuesday discounts Stubs members already receive.

The new pricing will begin shortly after "Jurassic World Rebirth" debuts in theaters July 2 and just before James Gunn’s hotly anticipated reboot of "Superman" arrives July 11. 

"Realistically, we could not afford to have made this change to our ticket pricing strategy until the box office showed true signs of sustained recovery," AMC Chairman and CEO Adam Aron said in a statement. "But in April and now in May, the box office has been booming, and the remainder of 2025 appears poised to continue that upward box office trend."

Which AMC locations will participate hasn’t been made immediately clear, but Aron's statement noted that "if successful, this new AMC pricing initiative will be almost universally available at all AMC Theatres in the United States going forward." Long Island locations include East Northport, Garden City, Glen Cove, Huntington, Levittown, Rockville Centre, Stony Brook and Westbury.

The announcement comes during a time of mixed financial signals for Hollywood. Yearly box office numbers still haven’t reached pre-pandemic levels, but 2025 has so far seen several big hits, notably the video-game adaptation "A Minecraft Movie," Marvel’s "Thunderbolts*" and the surprise horror-Western smash "Sinners." Those titles have helped boost year-to-date box office to $2.5 billion, almost 15% ahead of this point last year, according to BoxOfficeMojo.

Nevertheless, the ongoing tariff wars are expected to increase inflation, raise prices on all manner of goods and perhaps tighten many wallets. The average price of a U.S. movie ticket is currently $11.13, up 33% from $8.45 a decade ago, according to data from box-office tracking site TheNumbers.com. On Long Island, a single adult ticket at an AMC venue can cost roughly $17 to $22 or more.

By Rafer Guzmán

rafer.guzman@newsday.com