The movies are back, y’all. As “Barbenheimer” fever sweeps the nation—people double-featuring the two blockbusters that came out this weekend, Barbie and Oppenheimer—some people are rediscovering the cinephile within.
Take TikTok creator Sav (@sssavml), who recently posted a viral ode to AMC Theatres’ Stubs A-list subscription service while seeing Barbie. The video has 1.4 million views and almost 107,000 likes.
@sssavml #fyp #foryou #barbie #barbiemovie #oppenheimer #movie ♬ Dance The Night (From Barbie The Album) – Dua Lipa
In the video, Sav grabs a drink and a large popcorn from an AMC concession stand before settling in for a screening of the Greta Gerwig-directed smash hit.
Sav wrote in the on-screen text, “AMC stubs list is so worth it. $25 a month and you get to see 3 movies a week, so 12 movies a month. You get points for buying snacks and no extra charge for IMAX. One ticket for Barbie alone was worth $20.”
AMC Stubs is the theater chain’s subscriber membership program. Members can see up to three movies every week with the premium tier, A-list, plus get other perks like free popcorn refills. There are two lower tiers: Premiere and Insider. Depending on which states you’re going to see movies in, Stubs A-list costs $19.95 to $24.95 monthly, according to the AMC website.
In the comment section of Sav’s video, opinion was divided.
One person commented, “y’all’s movie tickets are insane. where i live it’s only 6.55 a ticket.”
Another wrote, “I go to like 3 movies a YEAR.”
A viewer chimed in, “Literally I have been dedicated to a list for YEARS everyone saying movies don’t come out that often but there are specialty re-releases.”
“Yup. I see Dolby releases every weekend. Saves me $180+ a month easily,” one comment read.
Another comment read, “currently stuck at home bc i already used the 3 movies for this week.”
“DEFINITELY go for premium. As someone who works for amc, it’s the best of the three by far,” someone commented.
One person added, “12 movies don’t even come out a month. I barely use my Cinemark one monthly credit.”
Speaking of Cinemark’s own Movie Club program, some commenters repped other cinema chains’ subscription services. Many came out hard in favor of Regal Cinemas’ Regal Unlimited.
“Regal better, you can see as many as you want,” one person commented. Someone replied, “And it’s cheaper.”
“Regal unlimited is [eyeball emoji] … no limit 1000 points for getting a ticket and 10% off concessions and yeah it might be extra but $6-$7 for 4DX omg,” another person commented.
“Alamo drafthouse..$20 a month and you get a movie every day,” a viewer chimed in.
Cinemark’s Movie Club costs $10.99 a month and gets you one free movie a month. Regal Unlimited costs $18.99 to $23.99 a month and comes with, yes, unlimited movies. Alamo Drafthouse’s Season Pass program costs $16.99 to $29.99 a month and gets you a free movie a day. Prices vary according to region, and all of these subscriptions come with various other perks.
So: The choice is yours, but if you’re looking to binge movies like there’s no tomorrow, the Regal Unlimited folks might be onto something.
Update 11:02am CT, July 27: In an interview via Instagram direct message, Sav tells the Daily Dot about AMC Stubs A-list, “We signed up because my boyfriend and I love going to the movies and unfortunately tickets in our area are expensive for IMAX/ Dolby cinema, so the deal is definitely worth it! We saw both Barbie and Oppenheimer on Sunday for $25 each instead of close to $40 each.”
Sav acknowledges the Regal Unlimited fans in the comments of the video, but says that both Regal and AMC’s subscription programs have their perks. “We don’t get any extra charge for specialty screens and formats,” she says.
The Daily Dot reached out to AMC and Regal via email.