After social media outcry, AMC changes tune on texting experiment

by Joe Mullin

Just one day after Ars and other outlets published comments by the CEO of AMC Entertainment saying he's interested in allowing some texting in theaters, the movie chain is backing away from the idea.

"We have heard loud and clear that this is a concept our audience does not want," the company said in a statement published on Twitter. "In this age of social media, we get feedback from you almost instantaneously and as such, we are constantly listening. Accordingly, just as instantaneously, this is an idea that we have relegated to the cutting room floor. With your advice in hand, there will be NO TEXTING ALLOWED in any of the auditoriums at AMC Theatres. Not today, not tomorrow and not in the foreseeable future."

AMC CEO Adam Aron mentioned that he was considering allowing phone use during an interview with Hollywood trade magazine Variety, published Wednesday. In Aron's view, changes are needed to ensure that millennials attend theaters "with the same degree of intensity" as baby boomers.

"When you tell a 22-year-old to turn off the phone, don’t ruin the movie, they hear 'please cut off your left arm above the elbow,'" Aron told Variety. "You can’t tell a 22-year-old to turn off their cellphone. That’s not how they live their life."