In a move to connect with its community and loyal investors, AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc AMC is entering the non-fungible token space. The movie theater company saw huge demand for this first NFT launch, which is tied to a movie that could be the biggest post-pandemic box office hit.
What Happened: AMC partnered with Sony Pictures, a unit of Sony Group Corp SONY to launch commemorative NFTs featuring 100 differently designed themes for the upcoming release of “Spider-Man: No Way Home."
The first 86,000 AMC Stubs A-List, Premiere or Investor Connect members who. purchased tickets to “Spider-Man: No Way Home” received a code to download a NFT based on the Wax Blockchain.
When tickets went on sale at 12:01 a.m. EST on Nov. 29, many movie ticket sites crashed due to demand.
AMC CEO Adam Aron shared an update on ticket demand Monday morning.
Our #AMCFirstEverNFT with @SonyPictures and Spider-Man: No Way Home caused AMC’s online ticketing traffic Sunday night/Monday morning to soar, to the highest ever in AMC’s entire history. Oh did we sell tickets! But we are sorry wait times got long with the unprecedented volumes. pic.twitter.com/MdLVL3Z7Oj
— Adam Aron (@CEOAdam) November 29, 2021
“With limited NFTs available, these tickets are expected to go quickly,” AMC said when announcing the NFTs. Moviegoers needed to be one of the first to buy online tickets, then attend the movie to get their NFTs delivered. The 86,000 recipients will be notified via email on Dec. 1 by AMC Theatres.
Related Link: Disney Reportedly Considering Purchase Of Spider-Man Rights Or Film Division From Sony: What Investors Should Know
Why It’s Important: Strong demand for “Spider-Man: No Way Home” tickets and the AMC NFTs could be worth watching for investors.
Sony Group and partner Walt Disney Co DIS could have a huge hit on their hands based on initial sales demand for “Spider-Man: No Way Home” tickets. Atom Tickets, Fandango and MovieTickets.com all saw huge demand early Monday that led to site crashes and hour waits for tickets.
AMC could be a big winner with the launch of Spider-Man NFTs, but other movie theater stocks such as Cinemark Holdings, Inc. CNK and Imax Corp IMAX could have strong early ticket demand.
“There are different tiers of intense fan demand when it comes to box office pre-sales and this film is clearly showing it belongs near the top with a select few others,” Boxoffice.com Chief Analyst Shawn Robbins said.
This kind of pre-sale ticket demand hasn’t been seen since 2019 when “Avengers: Endgame” and “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” were two of the most talked-about movies.
Demand for tickets has analysts re-forecasting their box office predictions. The last two Spider-Man movies had domestic openings of $117 million and $92 million in 2017 and 2019, respectively, which led to a $100 million-plus projection for the 2021 release.
“It would be entirely fitting that a Spider-Man movie could potentially be the first pandemic-era release to break the $100 million opening weekend mark,” Comscore Media Analyst Paul Dergarabedian said.
AMC continues to look for ways to reward its loyal members and increase ticket sales. Earlier this year, the company offered a buy-one-get-one-free deal on tickets for “Venom: Let There Be Carnage.”
The movie theater chain has also been open to using cryptocurrency for ticket purchases. Earlier this year, Aron hinted that the company would get into NFTs in the future.
“One of the ones I particularly love is to make commemorative movie tickets as an NFT,” Aron told CNBC. The CEO said that adding NFTs could help provide “real value” for AMC investors.
The strong demand for Spider-Man NFTs could lead to AMC releasing NFTs for other blockbuster movies, which could set the movie theater chain apart until others follow suit.
What’s Next: “Spider-Man: No Way Home” will be released in movie theaters on Dec. 16.
“Spider-Man: Homecoming” grossed $334.2 million domestically and $880.2 million worldwide in 2017. The 2019 release “Spider-Man: Far From Home” grossed $390.5 million domestically and $1.13 billion worldwide.
Price Action: AMC shares are down 3.51% to $36.31 and Sony shares are trading flat at $121.32 Monday morning at publication.
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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