AMC Introduces Unlimited Pass for “Interstellar”

AMC announced that they are going to be offering an “Unlimited” pass for Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar. For one price varying from $19.99-$34.99, AMC Stubs member will be able to see the film at any location or time and in their preferred format as often as they like.

This isn’t a bad idea, I gotta say. Having seen Interstellar once already (in the IMAX natch) I can see the benefit for both parties here. Interstellar is a movie that, while not perfect or a masterpiece as AMC’s press release announced, demands to be seen on the largest screen with the boomiest sound. Yeah, ‘boomiest,’ I’m almost certain that is a measurement of sound. While every viewing of Nolan’s newest under those conditions is an obvious treat for the audience, I can already imagine the movie losing some appeal once it makes the jump to folks’ home entertainment setups.

So then, seeing it in theaters is obviously the best course of action, but what about the price?

For an Unlimited pass only clocking in around $20-$35 (the $35 option most likely being for the Super IMAX Multipass, Day One Edition, I’m guessing here!) that means for the price of two tickets to the movie you can see it as much as you want after that! Drag all your friends to the movie that has moved you so deeply. That’s a great deal for the customer!

What does AMC get out of this, aside from the stated price? Well it’s only offered to Stubs members, requiring anyone interested to sign up for that program and that’s another $12 per year. This then brings them more loyalty customers and, of course, more tickets sold. Here’s the other thing. Interstellar is a long movie. It clocks it at 169 minutes. How many people could possibly want to see that more than twice or three times in theaters? That number is much lower than those, who are excited to see it again for the first time wide eyed and full of hope, anticipate. This means AMC is really not losing out on much.

If you haven’t seen Interstellar but know you’ll see it at least twice (one, I’m not sure how you can be so certain, you may be some sort of fifth-dimensional being in which case pleasure to meet you again!) or have seen it already and have at least two more showings lined up with various friend or family groups, then this isn’t a bad deal by far, definitely think about it.

What excites are the possibilities this opens up. Will huge blockbusters like Avengers: Age of Ultron get the special pass treatment? A part of me dreams that such a thing be reality but the truth is that’ll rake in audiences no sweat. Offering an open pass to those for a measly $15 would surely cost AMC heavily as the rabid comic book movie audience seems to be the most likely for repeat viewing. So what movies do you think will get the Unlimited treatment? Which movies should?