AMC Theatres is expanding further into distribution with the launch of Leawood Films, a new label focused on theatrical releases for small and mid-budget independent movies.

The company said the label will work with films that are already fully financed by their filmmakers or already completed, using AMC’s exhibition and marketing network to bring those movies to wider audiences. AMC Theatres CEO Adam Aron said Leawood Films is being created "to bring more movies to theaters" because of the "substantial excess capacity" currently available across the exhibition business.

Leawood Films is named after Leawood, Kansas, where AMC’s corporate headquarters are located, and the venture will operate out of both Los Angeles and Leawood.

Filling screens as studio output tightens

AMC’s move comes as theaters continue to face fewer traditional studio releases. The source article said exhibitors have spent years dealing with a supply problem that has become more visible as major studios reduce their release calendars. It also said theaters have increasingly relied on concert films, live events, and other alternative programming to fill screens between studio titles, amid the continuing effects of the pandemic and the 2023 industry strikes.

AMC has already found success outside the standard studio pipeline through self-distributed concert events including ‘Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour’ and Beyoncé’s ‘Renaissance.’ According to the source article, those releases helped encourage the company to push further into distribution.

Advisory team and partners

AMC has lined up several industry veterans to advise the new label. Former Warner Bros. Motion Picture Groupchairman Toby Emmerich, former Disney and Apple marketing executive Ricky Strauss, and former Bleecker Street distribution chief Kyle Davies will serve in advisory roles. Davies will also handle distribution duties for the venture. Entertainment attorney Craig Jacobson of Hansen Jacobson will represent Leawood Films.

The label also plans to work with independent distributors including Variance Films, which previously partnered with AMC on the Taylor Swift concert film, and Piece of Magic Entertainment, which recently managed the European theatrical rollout of an animated feature.

AMC has described the new initiative as "additive" to its existing studio and distribution relationships rather than a competitor to them.

First release still years away

AMC has not announced any titles for Leawood Films. The company has also said the label’s first theatrical release is not expected until 2027 or 2028 at the earliest, indicating the business remains in an early development phase.

This is not AMC’s first experience in distribution. The chain previously entered the business in 2011 through Open Road Films, a joint venture with Regal. That company released films including ‘Nightcrawler’ and later had a Best Picture Oscar winner with ‘Spotlight’ before AMC sold its stake in 2017.

Leawood Films arrives as AMC carries roughly $4 billion in existing debt, and the source article noted that the independent film market is notoriously difficult to navigate profitably. Even so, following a record-breaking summer at the box office, AMC is moving ahead with a bet that more varied theatrical content can find an audience.

Read the source