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The exhibitor and a new live entertainment business called Arena One are planning to show live concerts at more accessible price points on the big screen.
By Pamela McClintock
Senior Film Writer
AMC Theatres is getting into the live concert business. Put another way, fans will no longer have to pay hundreds of dollars for a ticket to see their favorite artists up close and personal. Instead, they can go to their local theater.
Adam Aron, CEO of AMC Theatres, unveiled the launch of what it calls Arena One at AMC during the company’s May 5 earnings call. Aron said Arena One has a revenue share model where AMC retains a “significant” percentage of the admissions revenue and food and beverage sales in theaters, and Arena One will also get a “significant” share of the revenues. AMC will have the Arena One deal as exclusive to itself “for the foreseeable future.”
The program is designed to offer a live concert experience at a more accessible price point than traditional concerts, especially when compared to the cost of attending a live show in person, including travel and accommodations.
Ticket prices will range from $40 to $75 before taxes and any applicable online fees, depending on the artist and market. Online ticketing fees are consistent with standard movie ticketing fees.
Arena One marks AMC’s biggest move in the music space since 2023, when Taylor Swift and her team sidestepped the usual Hollywood studio route and struck a deal with the country and world’s largest cinema circuit to distribute her blockbuster concert pic, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour. Not only was it a coup for Aron, The Eras Tour earned more than $261 million at the global box office to become the top-grossing concert pic of all time (a category that doesn’t include concert docs).
Debuting in June 2026, Arena One will kick-off with performances from Bebe Rexha on June 17, Paris Hilton on June 18 and Maren Morris on June 20 that can be experienced live in more than 300 AMC locations in 89 markets across the country, or as Aron puts it, “from sea to shining sea.”
Additional artists and dates will be announced in the coming weeks.
“The next chapter of live shows isn’t about proximity to big venues, it’s about creating visceral, intimate, affordable live connection between artists and fans no matter where they are,” Rohit Kapoor, founder and Chief Creative Officer of Arena One, said in a statement.
The exec added, “Arena One gives artists a new cinema-native canvas to create live performances, while amplifying the raw energy and shared fandom that makes live shows unforgettable.”
Regardless of where they are, fans will be part of the concert, with crowd buzz, sound and reactions flowing back and forth between the various locations and performers in real time through innovative interactive technology that is designed to feel immediate and electric with the help of massive screens and powerful sound, according to a release announcing the details of Arena One at AMC.
“We consider this to be a major announcement, as once again AMC Entertainment takes an innovative step forward. Arena One at AMC has the potential to open an entirely new chapter in live entertainment,” Aron said. “Thanks to Arena One at AMC, music fans across the country will be able to come together for the same live concert, at the same time, all with the accessible premium experience of huge screens, powerful sound, and comfortable seats that AMC guests know and expect.”
Added Arena One CEO Peter Hamilton, “We built a cinematic stage optimized to translate seamlessly to cinemas, but artists are defining what it becomes. They’re not adapting tours; they’re building something new. That’s when a medium sparks reinvention.”
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