Amazon reportedly considering purchase of AMC Entertainment

Amazon is reportedly weighing the purchase of AMC Entertainment and its nationwide chain of movie theaters as a means of promoting Amazon’s content and other services.

The Intersect reported that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has tasked his team of investment advisers and entertainment chiefs with exploring plans to acquire AMC and its chain of nearly 600 movie theaters in North America, Europe and the Middle East. 

An Amazon insider cited in The Intersect’s report explained that the e-commerce giant views a potential acquisition of AMC as a means of obtaining brick-and-mortar "marketing weigh stations" that could be used to promote Amazon Prime movies in addition to cross-selling other Amazon services through the distribution hubs. 

AMC is the world’s largest chain of movie theaters but has struggled to regain its financial footing after the COVID pandemic, which brought with it restrictions that, for a time, limited in-person audiences at theaters. While those restrictions have largely been lifted, the onset of inflation has made it harder for families struggling with rising costs to go to the movies.