The largest movie chain in America is creating a service that will rival subscription-based ticketing company MoviePass.
AMC Theatres on Wednesday unveiled AMC Stubs A-List, a $19.95 a month ticket service that allows members of its loyalty program AMC Stubs to see up to three movies per week. The program kicks off next Tuesday, when members can enroll online and start using the service immediately.
AMC Stubs A-List is so far the biggest competitor to other rival subscription services like MoviePass, which limits its subscribers to one 2D movie a day and each unique movie can be viewed only one time. AMC has upped the ante by allowing its subscribers to watch any movie at its theaters at any available showtime and in any format, including IMAX and 3D. A-List also allows moviegoers to book tickets in advance, a feature that is not available with MoviePass.
AMC said it will continue to accept MoviePass at all of its locations.
MoviePass has made headlines in the last year for disrupting the movie theater experience at a time of uneven attendance at movie theaters.
The service has bumped heads with traditional theaters, including AMC, which at one point even pulled its program from certain locations. CNNMoney reported in May that MoviePass' parent company, Helios and Matheson Analytics, burns through approximately $21.7 million each month to keep MoviePass in operation.
Helios and Matheson Analytics issued a warning about the company's ability to stay in business in a regulatory filing in April.
AMC has now swooped in with its own plan to court moviegoers. AMC Theatres CEO and president Adam Aron used the opportunity to take a jab at its popular competitor in his own statement on Wednesday.
"We believe that our current and future loyal guests will be interested in this type of program, as AMC Stubs A-List rewards guests with something that no one else offers: the very best of AMC, including IMAX, Dolby Cinema and RealD 3D up to 3 times per week, for one simple, sustainable price," Aron said.
MoviePass responded on its Twitter account on Wednesday.
"Heard AMC Theaters jumped on board the movie subscription train. Twice the price for 1/4 the theater network and 60% fewer movies. Thanks for making us look good AMC!" the tweet read. "AMC has repeatedly disparaged our model as a way to discourage our growth because all along they wanted to launch their own, more expensive plan. We want to make movies more accessible, they want more profit."
Related: MoviePass CEO: $10 unlimited movie service is playing catch up to its own growth
MoviePass announced that it exceeded 3 million subscribers last week and that it projects it will have more than 5 million by the end of the year.
