AMC Entertainment will debut its new retail popcorn line at hundreds of Walmart locations on March 11 – Academy Awards weekend, the company announced this morning.
CEO Adam Aron’s latest push to diversify the giant movie chain, from a gold mine to an AMC-branded credit card, will include three flavors of both microwave and ready-to-eat popcorn (Lightly Salted, Classic Butter, Extra Butter) called Perfectly Popcorn. The news comes as the company is set to report its latest financials after the bell today.
The microwave version is expected to retail for $4.98 for a six-pack; the ready-to-eat bags at $3.98 each.
The snacks will expand to more than 2,600 Walmart stores and walmart.com in the weeks following and AMC anticipates even broader distribution channels later this spring.
Aron called the foray into the multi-billion dollar retail popcorn business “with at-home popcorn that features the authentic taste of real movie theatre popcorn” as the company making “good on a promise made to our moviegoers and our investors.” The chief executive first announced the initiative in the fall of 2021. Last year, the company hired former Frito-Lay, Pepsico and Hostess Brands executive Ellen Copaken to the new position of Vice President, Growth Strategy.
“We could not have found a better partner than Walmart for this important extension of the AMC experience into the home,” he said.
For years, AMC has been making movies better in theaters, he said. Now, “we continue to Make Movies Better, this time in the comfort of your own home. And with popcorn now hitting shelves, we remain focused on future innovations that will continue to surprise and delight movie lovers and our shareholders.” Aron has been a master-brander, although the biggest fight in exhibition lately has been to get people back into theaters, not encourage them to stay home.
A move early this month to implement tiered ticket pricing inside theaters by seat location met with a backlash.
The CEO of the meme-stock company has millions of retail shareholders to please and engages with them frequently on social media. He teased the new popcorn line on Twitter last week.