AMC and Regal Cinema Theaters Won't Play ROMA in Their Best Picture Film Showcase
For years the AMC and Regal Cinema theater chains have showcased all of the films nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars.
Well, this is the first year that a Netflix film was nominated for Best Picture. That film is Alfonso Cuarón‘s critically acclaimed Roma. The movie landed 10 Oscar nominations, but neither AMC or Regal will be screening the film in their Best Picture showcase screening events. Why? Because the movie was never licensed to them because they didn’t want to play it in their theaters because it was a Netflix film.
The funny thing about this is that Roma will probably ended up winning the award. Deadline shared a statement from AMC that makes it clear Roma will not be screened:
“For more than a decade, movie-lovers have enjoyed the AMC Best Picture Showcase to catch up on the nominated films that played at AMC throughout the prior year. This year, Academy members nominated a film that was never licensed to AMC to play in our theatres. As such, it is not included in the AMC Best Picture Showcase.”
That’s a pretty cold and pouty statement. These theater chains need to start adapting to the changes in the business. Netflix is now one of the biggest studios producing some incredible content and the big theater chains are closing them out. In the end, that’s a loss for the theaters.
There are Netflix films that I would love to see on the big screen! I’ll have the opportunity at other theaters, but AMC and Regal just can’t seem to move past their dislike for how Netflix is changing the world of entertainment.
It doesn’t really matter though with Roma because you can watch it right now on Netflix.
Regal Cinemas will run their Best Picture showcase from February 15 to February 24. AMC Theatres will host their Best Picture showcase on two days that have yet to be revealed, but tickets for the films go on sale starting January 24.
So if your want, you’ll be able to see Black Panther, BlacKkKlansman, Bohemian Rhapsody, The Favourite, Green Book, A Star Is Born and Vice, on the big screen again or for the first time.