AMC Entertainment AMC is pivoting away from its Sightline program. The controversial program was announced in February 2023. In a press release, AMC described the pilot program as providing “moviegoers with seating selections based on their sightline of the movie screen within the auditorium, including seats in Value Sightline, Standard Sightline, and Preferred Sightline sections.”

The program was supposed to encourage patrons to buy reduced-price front-row seats. However, the theater chain announced they had seen little or no increase in front-row seat selection at the three pilot locations. The announcement included that AMC will launch a “different type of spacious front row seating – with extensive seat recline” in select US theaters later this year.

“To ensure AMC’s ticket prices remain competitive, the Sightline at AMC pilot program will come to an end at participating locations in the coming weeks, and the initiative will not roll out nationwide.”

Theaters have been trying to lure patrons back since the COVID-19 pandemic started in 2020, and the global box office has begun to rebound. The global box office saw a 27% increase from 2021 to 2022. However, those numbers were still short of pre-pandemic levels.

2023 has seen promise for an even healthier box office. AMC announced in July that more than 20,000 people had bought double feature tickets for Barbie and Oppenheimer on the same day. While announcements like this show promise, the WGA and SAG AFTRA strike could disrupt theaters again.

In a meeting where AMC announced launching its own candy line, AMC CEO Adam Aron remarked on the strike, “As far as its impact on AMC and the movie industry, if this is a short strike — I don’t mean days, I mean months – its impact will mostly be felt on television programming, because the movies for ‘23 and ‘24 have pretty much been written, in many cases they’ve already been filmed, and I think only a very prolonged writers’ strike would have a material impact.” While there is still a chance at a shorter strike, the addition of SAG-AFTRA to the strike, complicates upcoming film production schedules. SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher has also remarked that “there’s no way to predict” how long the strike will last in an exclusive to People Magazine.

The strike has already shut down many film productions. The list includes several blockbusters, including Deadpool 3, Venom 3, Gladiator 2, Wicked, and Lilo & Stitch. Strike leaders have not indicated that patrons should stop going to theaters. However, if the strike persists past labor day, it will most likely profoundly affect the theatrical release schedule. This could mean another issue for the global box office and theaters.

AMC testing out new revenue streams seems more crucial than ever, especially with a looming $3 billion possible dollars in economic fallout surrounding the strike if studios do not meet negotiators' demands.