After 25 minutes of movie trailers and ads for Coke and Claude AI alike, the familiar AMC script begins. Strings fill the theater and Nicole Kidman comes onto the screen. An assumed AMC A-Lister enthusiastically whoops at the sight of her. I roll my eyes instinctually. Kidman looks at the audience ominously as she delivers her viral monologue, which ends cornily with “somehow, heartbreak feels good in a place like this.” More audience members clap and cheer as the ad ends.
Five years after its original airing, AMC’s “We Make Movies Better” ad has become a viral phenomenon. It was included in Vulture’s “Best Halloween Costumes” list in 2022, has been spoofed on the Oscars and Saturday Night Live, has inspired swaths of memes and was most recently referenced in the music video for ADÉLA’s also viral song “Nicole Kidman.”
I will admit that I am, unfortunately, its target audience: an L.A. native AMC A-Lister who grew up so enamored by movies that I have an undergraduate film degree. But I have never been one of the whooping, clapping or hyping-up members of the crowd. And after half a decade of this ad, I would like to request that we respectfully retire it for good.
Its continued success isn’t just about Kidman’s uncanny ability to capture an audience decades into her career. It’s a sign of what happens when virality and not freshness becomes a corporate incentive.
Trouble in movie paradise?
The commercial, which was written by Oscar-winning screenwriter Billy Ray (of “Captain Phillips” and “Hunger Games” trilogy fame), was AMC’s $25 million effort to bring audiences back into theaters following COVID-19. While there’s no way to quantify what revenue has been earned solely due to the ad, it’s become a cornerstone of the AMC theater experience.
According to GQ, the original ad was only supposed to air for a year. But driven by audience favor, the ad’s virality and possibly to get the most out of its hefty price tag, AMC has re-signed Kidman as a spokesperson every year since.
The ad’s only updates have been two shortened versions, both introduced to the big screen in 2024. These shortened versions have apparently ruffled some feathers in the community AMC needs to capture most: AMC Stubs A-Listers.
AMC A-List — also known by its legal name, AMC Stub’s A-List — is the theater chain’s subscription membership service that grants members entry to four weekly movies for $27.99 to $29.99, depending on your state. It has grown to more than 1.1 million monthly subscribers since its 2018 launch, according to a September 2026 Yahoo Finance report, which is slightly fewer than competing subscription service Cinemark Movie Club’s 1.45 million subscribers.
The ever-enthusiastic group of A-List subscribers has grown to such popularity and fervor that it’s widely known as the “A-List cult.” Given the frequency of the cheers in my local theaters, I assumed the cult loved the ad. But when I checked out a three-year-old thread on the r/AMCsAList subreddit, the overall take was more diverse than expected.
There were, of course, the ad lovers — many of whom addressed Kidman by her first name as if she’s a part of their families. A comment with 43 upvotes said that the user would love a 10-minute version, which would be my worst nightmare. Another commenter shared that they “bought the shirt,” confirming the apparent existence of such fan merch.
But other comments noted that they were tired of it. One user requested a “one second version,” another requested “a complete Nicole-ectomy,” and even another said, “We come to this pla—ENOUGH NICOLE.”
I recently asked the subreddit for their updated opinions. The general consensus, with a few exceptions, was that the original ad was great, but the new shortened version was a disappointment.
Redditor Richieconpan wrote, “They have tried to optimize it in a way that eliminated all of its charm…Every time they have edited it, it has become more of a shell of what it once was and it now wreaks even more of the corporate entity driving the ship.”
The shortest and most recent version of the ad, which condenses the original 60-second video into a 15-second clip, says in its entirety: “We come to AMC theaters to laugh, to cry. Somehow, heartbreak feels good in a place like this. AMC Theaters. We make movies better.” Please. Literally, what does that even mean?
The ad is one of a growing list of examples of a trend in which quick engagement and virality are leaned into for the sake of profit, chopping and screwing intellectual property until it’s a shadow of beloved source material. Think of TV and film franchises like “Jurassic Park” and “American Horror Story,” both of which are continuously milked for new content, none of which live up to the originals. The concern isn’t brand dilution or brand preservation, but doing what will get more butts in seats. The goal is brand loyalty and audience activation — but at what point will the audiences be asked when they want to see something different?
A sign of the times
In many ways, the ad was a product of its time. It was created to reignite interest in the moviegoing experience, re-energizing an American pastime many were worried would be a pandemic casualty. And it did just that, as the claps, cheers and general enthusiasm suggest.
In a 2022 interview with Variety, screenwriter Ray claimed that the ad’s success was “because people need movie stars. And people need movies. And they didn’t realize how much they missed those two things until they got to go back.”
I’m a post-pandemic A-Lister who joined around the ad’s debut, looking for new ways to get out of the house and have communal experiences that didn’t actually require interaction. I teared up the first time I saw the ad, swept up by the magic of the movies and how effectively it captured it. It made me excited to take my family to an AMC movie, to spread the gospel of Nicole Kidman and leather recliners. The movies were back, bigger, comfier and better than ever.
But it feels like we’re past that now. AMC is doing better, moviegoers are moviegoing and COVID-19 has become an endemic illness we now pass around like a box of [insert your favorite movie candy here]. We’re no longer in a moment that requires Kidman’s support — though she somehow seems forever relevant and embedded in the zeitgeist.
A replacement for the “We Make Movies Better” ad won’t reinvent the company or be the sole cause for a huge rise in revenue. But given that at least some A-Listers are looking for a change, it’s time for a switch out — hopefully not with the 10-minute version some redditors requested.
We need something that leans into these times. Something funny and unexpected, that’s meaningfully meaningless, whimsical, and/or slightly doom-tinged like the times. Throw in a Muppet, Sabrina Carpenter, Michael B. Jordan or John Travolta. Give Nicole a rest.
I recently went to see “The Devils” at AMC Century City 15. The dreaded ad came on and I felt a sigh of annoyance in the audience. My partner looked at me mockingly, knowing my feelings about the ad. When it ended, a surprise: no claps. No whoops. No cheers.
Finally.