Somehow crying tears of joy feels good in a place like this.
The viral Nicole Kidman-led AMC ad campaign may be warranting a follow-up segment, according to AMC CEO Adam Aron.
“It’s being decided right now. I’m not sure when we’re going to do it — this year or next year,” Aron told Variety. “One version has been written, but whether that’s the one we make or not, I don’t know. We’ll all see it together. We’ll try to live up to your expectations when the time comes.”
Oscar winner Kidman appeared in the commercial that first debuted in September 2021 featuring a script written by “Captain Phillips” scribe Billy Ray.
Aron continued about the partnership with Kidman, “She’s happy to hear it. I’ll share this with you. On June 10, Nicole Kidman is being honored by the American Film Institute and getting its 49th Life Achievement Award. AMC is going to be a major sponsor of that gala in great tribute to the First Lady of AMC, Nicole Kidman. Becoming associated with her has been one of the smartest marketing decisions that I’ve been a part of for the last 40 years.”
The AMC ad was referenced during the 2023 Oscars and spurred a “Saturday Night Live” parody, which Aron called a “wonderful” homage.
“I actually thought our commercial was better than their parody. But I’ll tell you how I decided whether I liked it or didn’t. If ‘SNL’ had done that for any other theater chain, would I have been upset? The answer is, yeah,” Aron said. “If they had done that for someone else’s movie theaters, I would have been crazed out of my mind.”
He added, “Similarly, I don’t know if you were watching the Oscars, but the first gag in Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue was to Nicole Kidman, about how she’d been released from an AMC movie theater. That’s the highest compliment we can be paid. That says our commercial hit the American zeitgeist.”
Kidman reflected on the impact of the AMC ad last year, revealing that she became connected with CEO Aron through “Being the Ricardos” director Jeff Cronenweth.
“I just wanted to support AMC, but he’s a great guy,” Kidman told The Playlist of Aron. “Thinking out of the box and defying the odds. Go Adam!”
She added of the iconic “heartbreak feels good in a place like this” line, “It’s so true. How true is it too? I mean, talk about not feeling alone, sitting in a cinema with a broken heart, and then watching something that breaks your heart again, and you go, ‘I’m not alone.’ Please. This must not go away. We have to have cinema.”
