AMC Theatres

Background
AMC Theatres is an American movie theater chain, founded in 1920 when Maurice, Edward, and Barney Dubinsky acquired the Regent Theatre in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. The chain was renamed to Durwood Theatres after acquiring theaters in Kansas City and nearby areas; in 1969, when the chain began further national expansion, it was renamed to American Multi-Cinema, which would be shortened to AMC in 1979. The chain, headquartered in Leawood, Kansas, is currently the largest global film exhibitor. AMC and competitor Regal Cinemas co-founded and previously owned the movie studio Open Road Films.

1st Opening (May 1980-1983)
Logo: On a black background, a /yellow flash appears. 10 saturated black and white photographs of celebrities, popular in the New Hollywood era, zoom in on a circle outline while a white shine is revolving around the circle. After the last one (Charlie Chaplin) appears, the circle turns sideways revealing an outline of a projector. The shine starts to eliminate the outline and creates a "A" in its signature design. A filmstrip comes from the bottom and goes next to the "A" forming the outline of the "M". The filmstrip gets removed and makes the "M". The same happens for the "C" except it comes from the top of the screen. Several white curved-edged rectangles zoom in around "AMC" and centers the logo. Stars appear on the bottom forming "THEATRES". A bright light appears on the "A" and "C". "Our Feature Presentation" fades in one by one with the music. A bright light fades on the "A" and shines along with the "M" and "C". The logo fades to black.

Technique: Cel animation by Barbara Garner, with footage from the Cascom Select Effects Library. The print logo was designed by Cinema Concepts.

Music/Sounds: An abridged excerpt of the library music tune "Olympic Champion 1" by Keith Mansfield from 1978.

Availability: Ultra rare. Seen at numerous AMC cinemas from the time period. 35mm prints of this can be found on eBay or through film collectors and projectionists.

2nd Opening (1983-1986)
Logo: A beam of light emerges from a black background. From this beam emerges a stripe with an outline of the continental United States gliding toward the audience. Then two more stripes emerge, one on top and one on the bottom placed at the center of the first stripe. The stripes then rotate sideways to reveal the AMC logo, and continue rotating after the logo is centered. The stripes then center themselves in the same position as they were originally, then the first stripe lifts upward to reveal the "Feature Presentation" text. The text shines once it's in place, while the stripe moves to the top of the screen. A light shines across the AMC logo as this happens. All three lights then rotate once more, but don't manage to center themselves again before the logo fades out.

Previews Variant: A bright light appears with the text "Now Showing or Coming Soon to an AMC Theatre". This would show before the film to advertise 3-4 trailers in the theater.

Technique: Early computer graphics.

Music/Sounds: An ominous synth noise, then chimes, then a synth-brass fanfare. An announcer is also present, who recites "AMC welcomes you to the finest in motion picture entertainment. You are about to experience a movie the way it was meant to be seen-and heard. And now, our feature presentation."

Availability: Same as the last logo.

3rd Opening (1986-1990)
Logo: We start off with live footage of an '80's AMC theater ("AMC" in its same font as the last logo) with a sign saying "AMC 6 Theaters", with cars pulling in the parking lot and people walking in. The camera gets a close up into the logo, then cuts to "AMC" in its font from the last logo on a sign. It then cuts to a girl in the lobby, wearing a uniform, speaking into the microphone. It then cuts to a couple across from the girl working. It cuts to the movie ticket printing out and a hand grabbing it. The person hands it over to an usher letting them in. It cuts to them buying some popcorn at a stand inside the theater with another worker talking to them. It cuts back to the two who grab the popcorn bucket. It then cuts to a close up of popcorn popping and popcorn in its bucket. The two then walk away with the popcorn and go inside the cinema. Inside, other people are sitting down from old to young. They then put down their drink and cuts to another couple kissing and a family with a little girl smiling. It then cuts to the screen where "A", "M", and "C" fade in time with the music along with the (R) symbol on the side all in chrome. The logo shines while "There is a difference" in cursive is being written below. The logo fades to black and "Feature Presentation" fades in written in cursive and fades out.

Previews Variant: On a black background, "There is a difference" in cursive fades in one by one. Then, it cuts out and starts zooming out from the back of the "A" from "AMC" flipped. The logo turns 180 degrees in the same "AMC" from an angle and a different chrome color shining. "PREVIEWS" zooms in under the logo and fades to black.

Technique: Live-action and early CGI. The previews only uses CGI.

Music/Sounds: A synth orchestra theme.

Availability: Same as the last logos.

4th Opening (1990-1991)
Logo: We start off by seeing 10 filmreels, 5 on each side rotating. Text flies by the top of the reels. The camera cuts to the top view of the reels: 2 on the top, 3 on the bottom and the other 5 are flipped on the other side. Text reading "There is a difference" goes in between the reels from right to left. As the text disappears, the reels start separating as the "AMC" text in a glass outline appears. The camera turns to face the front of the text while a laser draws the outline in. When the camera stops turning, "Feature Presentation" flies in from the right while a yellow circle with a trail flies in from the right, going through the text. Other yellow dots, circles, and squiggly lines all fly in. The logo shines for a bit while the star at the bottom right corner spins. The logo fades out.

Previews Variant: The already formed logo fades in with "PREVIEWS" scrolling from the right to left. After that, the logo fades.

Trivia: This was done by Metrolight Studios. The equipment and software employed are a Silicon Graphics IRIS 3130, Silicon Graphics Personal IRIS 4D/25 with Eclipse TG graphics, Alias|Wavefront Advanced Visualizer, and Parallax Matador.

Technique: CGI by Metrolight Studios.

Music/Sounds: Another synthesized theme, with a choir at the end.

Availability: Same as the last few logos.

5th Opening (1991-1994)
Logo: We start by fading into a shot of a film case with "AMC" with a outline on top. A label below reads "Feature Pres." while a spotlight shines on it. The camera zooms out while the case spins and shakes. The case pops open while an anthropomorphic figure made of filmstrips (named Clip, who was AMC's mascot from 1991 to 2009) flies out. He flips and lands while he is shaking his head. He waves his film hand at the case as a film reel pops out and bounces with him while he walks on the floor. While they are walking, a film reel is shown sideways behind them with the text saying "There is a difference". Clip jumps and when he lands, he waves his film hand around him leaving a trail of light. The camera cuts to the floor turning sideways as he jumps on the film reel and flies away. While that is happening, the AMC logo begins to draw itself in from left to right. A few more circles of yellow and appear on the bottom right of the screen. A rectangle flies in from the bottom with the text "Feature Presentation" on it. The copyright mark appears of at the end of the "C". Clip flies past the logo and through the screen leaving a trail of stars behind.

Previews Variant: We pan over the same film case described above. Meanwhile, a rolled label falls down onto the canister. As it lands, the label unrolls itself right below the AMC logo, revealing the word "PREVIEWS".

Technique: CGI from Metrolight Studios.

Music/Sounds: A bass, which transitions into an orchestral theme as Clip flies on the film reel.

Availability: Same as the last few logos.

Trivia: This opening was parodied in the animated comedy The Critic. In the episode "Dial M for Mother" a film reel character similar in design to Clip is comedically sucked into a film projector with musical cues close to the original animation.

6th Opening (1994-1996)
Logo: We start off as we see Clip who is much more than usual (especially his facial expressions), flying around on the film reel. The building is all golden film reels with filmstrips moving from many film cameras on the sides. There is also film reels moving on the ceiling. In the far distance, "AMC" is shown under spotlights while "THERE IS A DIFFERENCE" is shown underneath while filmstrips pass over it. Clip stops in front of the camera and starts flexing his film arms. He leans on the right side and falls off the film reel as it races to catch him. The camera cuts to a hole where filmstrips circle around and lights are shown. Clip is still falling and the film reel races to catch him. The camera cuts again to the same room in the beginning but zoomed in. The film reel positions itself as Clip falls onto it. He gets up with a sigh of relief. While that is happening, "AMC" in lines is drawn in from the bottom behind him. A outline drops in behind the text and the logo is drawn a thicker  outline. Clip then flies from right to left while "Feature Presentation" pops in one by one. The (C) symbol appears again beside the C. Like the last logo, Clip flies past the logo and through the screen. The logo fades out.

Previews Variant: We start off by fading into a gradient background. A cup of Coca-Cola is shown as the camera pans up, we see that the cup has a straw and the cup is full of the drink. The drink is getting sucked in the straw as the camera pans up to see Clip sitting on the film reel drinking from the straw. He gets surprised and gives a sighed expression. The camera starts to pan up as Clip stands up and flies away, leaving a star trail behind. While that happens, the logo is drawn in like the last logo but it is sped up. lines fill up the logo. Clip flies by the logo from right to left leaving "Previews" behind him. The logo fades out.

Technique: CGI from Metrolight Studios.

Music/Sounds: An orchestral theme, ending with the same jingle from the last logo.

Availability: Extinct.

Legacy: This is the first trailer to depict Clip with facial features.

7th Opening (1996-November 2002)
Variant: In 1998, an anniversary FP logo is used celebrating a century of movies: It starts by showing a picture of "AMC" in its FP form with "Salutes" underneath on a black background. It then cuts to another set of text saying "AFI's 100 YEARS 100 MOVIES" with a star on the left side of "AFI", tilted. Another set of text fades in on top saying "Celebrating A Century Of American Cinema". It cuts to a clip from Annie (1982) where Mr. Warbucks says: "Let's all go to the movies!" It then fades to footage of the Radio City Music Hall marquee from that same movie. It cuts to an AMC Theatres sign from daytime to nighttime, the outline of "AMC" glows yellow. It then cuts to an updated footage of the 2nd logo without the popcorn popping, then there is a timelapse of people filling up the seats. Then we see shots of an audience, including a group of people, a couple with the husband feeding popcorn to the wife, another couple kissing, and the audience clapping. Then a film starts to play and the audience reacts to it. In order of appearance, the featured films are: After this, it cuts to the last 3 seconds of the FP logo.
 * Raiders of the Lost Ark: A young girl has a shocked face.
 * Independence Day: The audience reacts like they are in an earthquake.
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back: Luke Skywalker fighting Darth Vader.
 * Matinee (1993): A startled Dennis (Jason Lee Soffer) jumps and puts his eyes on his brother, Gene's (Simone Fenton) arm.
 * Jurassic Park: The audience jumps.
 * E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial: E.T.'s finger glows.
 * Last Action Hero: Danny Madigan (Austin O'Brien) smiling.
 * Mrs. Doubtfire: The audience laughing.
 * A Streetcar Named Desire: A woman crying.
 * Ghost: A woman crying and blowing a tissue.
 * Casablanca: Humphrey Bogart's character saying "Here's looking at you kid."
 * Cinema Paradiso: A man with a shocked face.
 * Rocky: The audience (mostly men) clapping and cheering.

Technique: CGI from Metrolight Studios.

Music/Sounds: First, an orchestra tuning, which is a sample called "Intro Tune" from Peter Siedlaczek's Orchestral Colors, and as the notes drop from the stand, another orchestra theme plays. Composed by Phillip Pelletier.

Availability: Extinct.

8th Opening (November 2002-2009)
Logo: We start off by seeing a light turn on inside a wall hollowed in a yellow wall. The camera starts to turn left as we see more of the wall yellow and covered with lights. It turns and stops at a bag of AMC popcorn and 2 AMC drinks, all have pictures of Clip on it. A yellow light shines and heads towards the drink in the middle. Suddenly, Clip jumps out of the drink and lands on the left side. Just like the 6th logo, he is much more golden. He shakes himself to get rid of the water on him. He looks at the cup and bangs his film hand on it. Suddenly, a yellow/ flash appears. "AMC" and "Theaters" appears on a background. "Experience the difference" is written below from left to right in cursive. Circles are drawn in along the logo and shines. The logo then disappears via a yellow flash disintegrating through the screen as "Feature Presentation" appears on that same background over a darker,, cursive "F" on the background close to the left. The logo then fades out.

Previews Variant: We start off on a gradient background as we see Clip holding a bubble, levitating on a set of, , and yellow rings. He turns around facing the camera. He is now making the bubble levitate along with the rings. He walks away as the rings rise up out of the screen and the bubble levitating. The AMC logo is drawn in along with its decorations. The bubble zooms in and "Coming soon" fades in on top of the text. The logo then fades out. Technique: CGI animation from Metrolight Studios made using Alias Wavefront Maya. The studio would close down a year later.

Music/Sounds: We hear horns, a triangle sound plays when Clip exits the popcorn bag. Then the music plays along with Clip's actions. When he taps the soft drink, a bombastic orchestra ensues.

Availability: Extinct.

9th Opening (2009-November 2013)
Logo: We start off with people gathered inside at an AMC theater. The camera focuses on 3 people: On the right is a girl with long blonde hair wearing a light blue shirt, a coat,  pants, and holding an AMC branded drink. In the middle is a dark colored girl with black puffy hair wearing a T-shirt, a white shirt,  pants, and holding an AMC branded bag of popcorn. On the right is a slightly dark boy with black short hair wearing a T-shirt, a white hoodie, black pants, and holding a drink and a bag of popcorn, both AMC branded. The camera zooms in on the girl on the left taking a zip from the drink. Vines start growing from behind the seat. The camera cuts to an angle from the girl where the people behind them disappear and trees grow in the back. The ground starts growing grass as vines grow along the seats and grass grows out of them while a firefly flies around her. The screen fades away as the roof unfolds to starry night sky. The camera cuts to the ground where the seats in front of them fold into the ground and grass grows on top. The camera cuts to the front view of the people as flowers of all colors start blooming in front of them. The three people start getting lifted from the ground in their seats by wood. The camera cuts to the girl on the left smiling while fireflies fly around her as she is getting lifted. The camera cuts to the boy on the right smiling and taking a drink while fireflies fly around him. The camera zooms out far to reveal them risen in the air watching over the hills as "AMC" in white appears in the sky over a city with the sun setting. More flowers appear on the bottom right hand corner and move like filmstrips. The logo cuts to black.

Previews Variant: The camera pans down from a starry night sky to reveal the three people from before entering the theatre with "AMC" on top of the marquee, letters spaced out and "Coming soon" written on the marquee. The logo fades out.

Technique: CGI made using Autodesk Maya.

Music/Sounds: A dreamy chime theme is heard at the beginning, which then rouses into a held wind sound. This is followed by a majestic-sounding fanfare with the sound of whooshes and the roots growing and creaking noises. Sounds of nature then accompany the fanfare along with sparkling. When the AMC logo is shown, the fanfare settles into a dramatic-sounding finish.

Availability: Extinct.

Legacy: This is the first AMC opener to not have a "Feature Presentation" descriptor in it. It is also the first modern trailer to not feature Clip.

10th Opening (2011-Spring 2013)
Logo: TBA.

Technique: Computer animation.

Music/Sounds: TBA.

Availability: Extinct.

11th Opening (June 2012-November 2013)
Logo: "Keep track of your stuff and Report suspicious characters." appears to the left of the AMC logo. "Find the exit that's closest to you." appears to the right of a dot labeled "EXIT". "Enjoy the show" appears to the right of a dot with a smile on it.

Technique: Computer animation.

Music/Sounds: TBA.

Availability: Extinct.

12th Openings (November 2013-Fall 2017)
Logo: Either (it varies depending on the genre of the film):


 * 1) (Action/Sci-Fi) On a white background, the AMC logo in a red circle zooms in. After a few seconds, it zooms and takes up the whole screen, with it flapping in the process. We then see many red circles with military hats and glasses hanging on to falling parachutes over a dark landscape with hills at night. A small UFO flies past the camera firing lasers which destroy the parachutes. We see more UFOs destroying parachutes in an overhead shot. We cut back to the previous shot where one of the balls stretches in an alarmed manner and is taken by one of the UFOs, with the parachute clinging on to its front. The UFO comes loose and crashes down to the ground, turning upside-down. The scene cuts to an overhead shot where the background disappears, and the red text "amazing" is seen on the side. The UFO turns over, with its bottom side revealed to be the AMC logo. The "amazing" text wipes out, and the logo centers itself in the middle. The AMC logo turns down and the UFO flies off. We see another view of circles with horns, a tail, and a ring within its nose holes (resembling cows) at night. One of the cows is abducted into the UFO, where it sticks it to its bottom, then sucks it in. The UFO flies off and the screen quickly slides to the right, revealing the text "Keep track of your stuff". A squadron of helicopters fly over a distant hill, with the camera turning upward as they get closer. They are all revealed to be flying towards a giant circular robot with mechanical arms and legs, a quarter of the top cut off emitting a light, and an antennae on top (it looks similar to Romeo's giant robot from PJ Masks) which grabs one of the helicopters. A couple ninjas hanging from ropes stuck to the landing feet of the helicopters swings off of them while other correspond with the action. It cuts to a ground view where a ninja lands and speeds off. The text "Report suspicious characters" is seen above. The helicopters fly over as Vikings with wings, horns, axes and shields run in from the left. More ninjas drop down and zoom away. They are all revealed to be running towards the giant robot, which throws the helicopter it caught earlier at them, knocking the surrounding characters out and kicking up a volatile dust cloud. The robot then raises its foot and stomps down on the ground, which the Vikings narrowly avoid and use their weapons against. The foot raises to reveal the text "Watch your step" and the Vikings run after it. Another set of text, "walk", is standing on the ground. The robot steps over it (squishing some characters in the process), and the characters run through holes in the text. The helicopters fly over the text and intercourse within direction. All of this is revealed to be happening on a theater screen, with the text "Front, Behind, Left, Right" displayed on the screen. Two doors open on both sides of the theater, with red lights activating on top of them. The characters in their seats (with bags of popcorn nested in some) motion themselves towards the exit and walk out of the theater (an AMC theater in this case) with the text "Exit the building" and "move far away" on it, where the robot is now looming over it with helicopters flying in the background. The robot raises its fist and reaches into the theater, where in another shot, it grabs the popcorn machine, which it dumps into a rectangular hole (presumably its mouth) along with the machine itself. A helicopter flies past the camera, transitioning the screen into the AMC logo on a black background. A spark circles around the logo and breaks it off, emitting a light that contains a trooper with triple night-vision goggles and a rope hanging out. The dot leaps at the screen, revealing the hole to be the Moon. The screen zooms out to show two dots (one with a pompadour and large lips on the left and one with curly hair and larger lips on the right) in a rowboat sailing down a river. They kiss, and many dots with hearts on them swirl around at the viewer, transitioning to a shot of a dot wearing a Jason Voorhees-style mask waving a chainsaw around which cuts the surrounding dots in half. The dot gets a pie to the face, blacking out the hole. The dot then turns into a laughing mouth. The camera zooms into his mouth, and the text "coming soon" follows suit. After this, the text makes a transition to an MPAA band trailer or ending entirely.
 * 2) (Comedy) The AMC logo zooms in on a white background. Instead of zooming towards us and flapping like a blanket, it gains a shine and a silver rim and is revealed to be the emblem of a small car driving down a highway at night. Two dots (one with a mohawk and glasses on the left seat and another with a striped cap and strings of hair peeking on the right) are in the car and they are both not keeping their eyes on the road. In another shot, we see a bear-like dot standing on the road, shocked, which the car narrowly misses, causing the mohawk dot to drop its phone. They look back and scream in terror as the bear is revealed to be chasing after them. We cut to a shot of the car and the bear speeding away, and the camera pans up to reveal the "AMC amazing" logo. The "amazing" text wipes out, like the 1st variant. The AMC logo turns into a dangling chain on the car's mirror, where the drivers are now going across the edge of a cliff. They briefly push each other around before zooming past a line of motorcyclers. They get on their motorcycles, line up vertically and speed off, where the drivers are now going through a tunnel with the motorcyclers being reflected in the mirror (if you notice, the AMC chain on the mirror is gone). We see a shot where the motorcyclers pass the screen one-by-one. The camera zooms through the shocked drivers' car, while the motorcyclers follow suit. As they speed down a road, a row of cheering dots with different hairstyles and accessories is seen on the side of the road with a bus stop sign next to them. The text "Report suspicious characters" is seen above. The car zooms down the road before they abruptly notice a bunch of the cow dots standing in the way. The car narrowly misses them in a curvy line, while the motorcyclers bash them out of the way at high speed. As the cows and motorcyclers fly through the air, the text "Keep track of your stuff" is seen as the closest cow moves out of the way for it. The motorcyclers fall back down (with two of the cows landing on two of the motorcycles) and speed off while the text "Watch your step" is seen zooming away from the camera's speed. The motorcyclers (and cows) come across a four-way split of the road, with signs saying "Front", "Left", "Behind", and "Right" on each one. They go separate ways and we cut to another shot of them riding towards us. Suddenly, a cow falls and startles one of the cyclers, with it landing on the platform attached to it. They both look at each other with confused expressions. The motorcyclers and cows speed off onto a hill as the text "Exit the building" settles above. The camera pans upward and the large Moon turns into the AMC logo. Then, the animation from the end of the 1st variant plays.
 * 3) (Horror)  The AMC logo zooms in on a white background once again. The logo then morphs into a dot with a Danny DeVito-like hairstyle and glasses walking on a dock on top of reeds and mist with many spooky trees and mosquitoes in the background. One of the mosquitoes lands on the top of its head and starts sucking its blood, causing him to lighten and squish. The (now enormous) mosquito flies away (revealing a large, cloud-covered Moon in the sky) and drops down where the background disappears and the "AMC amazing" logo is seen. Like the other two trailers, the "amazing" text wipes out, but the AMC logo now morphs into a girl with circular earrings, lips and a ponytail. She trots towards the screen in a haunted house as a flash of lightning occurs outside. She gets startled and looks behind her to see a red dot swiftly pass by the top of a staircase. She looks around and the furniture (including the stool) is now rocking back and forth. They then, like a magnet, stick to the ceiling as the text "Keep track of your stuff" in a more liquified version of the text is revealed. The dot then steps back, screams loudly and runs down the hallway behind her, as lightning is now constantly flickering every second. The camera zooms to a fork in the hallway as two dots with the same hairstyles (a reference to The Shining) are seen. The dot screams again and comes to a red, static TV (a reference to The Ring) with a paranoid expression. A flash of lightning illuminates a figure in the distant hall beside her. The text "Report suspicious characters" forms on the TV. The girl gets startled, and the scene cuts to a cellar door opening, releasing a red glow and thick mist. The girl screams again as she is sucked into a cellar door beside her. She falls and thumps her head on a platform outside, tumbles down a hill and into a dug hole in a graveyard. The camera pans up and reveals the text "Watch your step" engraved on a tombstone. The girl manages to slip out of the hole as zombie dots start to rise around her. They emerge from gravestones with "Front", "Left", "Behind", and "Right" embedded on them. She stops at the last grave, turns around and screams at the zombie dot (with its eye whipped out from the socket). The girl then runs away screaming in absolute terror as the text "move far away" (with the "o" being a zombie) above. The camera pans up through the trees and reveals the AMC logo. Then, the animations from the end of the 1st and 2nd variants play as normal.

Variants: A variant for Coca-Cola was created.


 * On a futuristic platform with red mist glowing below it, six red dots (all with military hats and glasses, two flying with jetpacks and the latter four in a diamond organization on the platform) are seen on it. A Coca-Cola cup flies in carried by three helicopter dots and is inserted into a glowing light in the opening of the platform. Red dots surrounding the platform now glow in a synchronized pattern as the cup is inserted. A plastic lid, carried by six helicopters, is flying around with the giant robot from the regular trailer posing on it. A straw is carried from the mist and inserted into the cup's hole by the robot (which he spins around for a second). The robot gives an "all-clear!" symbol with its thumb, and is carried away by the six helicopters. The background changes for a second to reveal the cup being taken out by the girl (along with many other characters) from the "Halloween" trailer which she sips from. The projector turns on, and the camera then cuts to a shot of the theater screen where the text "It's movie time!" is seen with the "AMC amazing" logo below it.

Trivia: These were designed by "Fletch" at Psyop under the agency Bailey Lauerman.

Technique: All in CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: It varies:

Variant 1: First, we hear a faint whoosh in which its reverb gets louder with a flapping sound. This segues into a dramatic fanfare with bleeping noises and explosions. As the dot is taken away, we hear the sound of the UFO powering down, and then a loud crash. When the UFO flies away, a low synth drone is heard, followed by the sound of the UFO powering on and flying off. During the policy rules segment, this in order is heard: We hear the sound of cows mooing, followed by a repeating whirring noise which gets faster and higher in pitch, followed by the sounds of "thunking" and stretching, with the cow giving high mooing noises. This ends with a faint splat, and more whirring noises. As the helicopters fly over, a dramatic fanfare builds up and reaches its peak as rotors can be heard. Metallic noises from the robot are heard when it grabs the helicopter. Whooshes when the ninjas drop down, followed by noises of the Vikings yelling. The sound of a helicopter powering down and crashing. A loud "stomp" and the sounds of weapons clanking/bullet ricochets when the Vikings attack the robot's foot. Then, a mish-mash of sound effects, including yelling, bullet ricochets, and rotors from the helicopter. When the robot gets to the theater, ricochet-like noises can be heard, along with a loud crashing sound. The music stops here. We hear the sound of a chute opening, faint sounds of the popcorn falling, and one final sound of the helicopter rotors as one last dramatic note plays. During the "coming soon" segment, we hear a loud sparking sound and a sonic whoosh. A buzzing noise as the dot leaps at the camera. A stock sound of an owl along with faint sounds of the water, as well as a harp arpeggio with the sound of kissing. The sound of balls filling, which is jarringly interrupted with a dramatic note with the sound of a woman screaming and chainsaw buzzing. The chaos is interrupted with a pie splat. After this, the sound of the plate falling and a woman laughing. Final whooshes close out the trailer.

Throughout all of this, a female announcer says, "Disarm your phone, soldier. Arm your senses. Engage. AMC Amazing."

During the policy rules: "Let's start this mission with a few safety tips. Keep track of your stuff. Report suspicious characters. And in case of angry robots or other emergencies, watch your step. And walk to the nearest exit, which may be in front of you, behind you, or on either side. Then, exit the building, and move far away from the angry robot."

During the "coming soon" segment: "Coming soon to AMC."

Variant 2: We first hear a synth tap. As we zoom out from the car, we hear the sound of it driving and a person whistling. After this, we hear the sound of a shocked bear roaring, combined with a person gasping and another person yelping. We hear the thumping noise as it falls out, along with stomping noises. When the bear chases the car, we hear the people gasping, screaming and the bear roaring behind them. A country-style tune plays throughout this segment, which later fades out, then resumes, then gets interrupted as the sounds of bickering and the car skidding are heard from inside the car. A voice saying "Whoa!" can be heard. The music turns into a pounding rock theme as the motorcyclers line up and drive away, followed by the sounds of the motorcycles revving. This is combined with the sound of the car. We hear the people cheering as they all drive past them. When the car approaches the cows, the tires skid, followed by the cows mooing. We hear the cows being bashed. The music lowers in volume when they fly to make room for the announcer. A cow moo can be heard after she speaks. We then just hear the music and the motorcycles driving until the cow lands on one of the motorcycles, where we hear one last moo before the music continues and eventually fades out. Then, the sound effects that were heard in the 1st trailer are heard.

The beginning of the trailer has the announcer say this: "You won't need a phone where you're going. You are now entering AMC Amazing."

During the policy rules: "Let's get this show on the road.. with a few safety tips! Report suspicious characters. Keep track of your stuff. And in case of cow collisions or other emergencies, watch your step and walk to the nearest exit, which may be in front of you, behind you, or on either side. Then exit the building, and keep on moving, baby!"

During the "coming soon" segment: "Coming soon to AMC."

Variant 3: A low "thoom" noise is heard. Then, a loud thunderclap interrupts the ambience, followed by an eerie track with the sound of mosquitoes buzzing and the dock creaking. A synth bang followed by slurping sounds and a shrill note is then heard. We hear a pop noise and a "slurp" as the dot slumps to the ground, followed by buzzing sounds. Faint "putt-putt" noises can be heard. After the AMC Amazing logo wipes away, we hear quiet footstep noises, followed by a crack of thunder. The girl gasps as she looks behind. More cracks of thunder are heard with the sounds of the furniture rocking and crashing with the sound of the girl gasping. A low synth drone is heard, followed by the sounds of the girl screaming loudly. A quick whoosh is heard. Another scream from the girl. Static sounds are heard from the TV as another loud crack of thunder is heard. Banging noises are heard as the cellar opens up, and another scream from the girl is heard followed by the door closing. She screams more as thumping is heard. Cracks of thunder. Groans from the zombies are heard as they rise out. We hear one last scream from the girl as she runs away, with a shrill track in the background. A whoosh when the camera pans up. The sounds from the previous variants then play.

The announcer this time says this: "Honey, I'd beware if I were you. Welcome to the spine-tingling world of AMC Amazing."

During the policy rules: "There's nothing to be scared of. We just have a few safety tips. Keep track of your stuff. Report suspicious characters. And in case of hauntings or other emergencies, watch your step, and walk to the nearest exit, which may be in front of your, behind you, or on both sides. Then exit the building and move far away. Because there may be zombies."

During the "coming soon" segment: "Coming soon to AMC."


 * The "Coca-Cola" variant has an orchestral fanfare with a choir in the background, accompanied by the sounds of the helicopters. We hear a whirring noise, then a "slam" as the Coca-Cola cup is inserted. We hear more sounds of the helicopters as the lid is placed on, followed by sounds of pushing clouds. A spinning noise is heard as the robot spins the straw, followed by a "thoop" kind of sound as it is inserted. The fanfare rises into a triumphant state as the robot is carried off, followed by one last sound of the helicopter rotors. We then hear sounds of the audience in the theater, paired with a sip and an "ahh" from the girl. The fanfare concludes as the camera cuts to the theater screen.

Availability: Extinct.

13th Openings (2015-Fall 2017)
Logo: These openings go over the same theater etiquette points as the previous two openings ("keep track of your stuff", "report suspicious characters", locate exits), but trade elaborate scenarios for items related to a theme.


 * Action/Sci-Fi: The AMC logo fades in with a blue spotlight shining on it. A second later, it abruptly brightens. The camera zooms to the bottom-right corner of it, revealing a golden idol of a pharaoh head (with its mouth open and with crooked teeth; similar to the one from Raiders of the Lost Ark) being lit by a spotlight on a mossy stone floor. The text "keep track of your stuff" is seen floating beside it. The camera swiftly pans behind it, showing the text now floating beside a bag (which is the bag Indiana Jones swapped whilist stealing the idol) with a white substance spilling from it. The text shakes as dust falls from overhead. The camera zooms under the text, where a smoke cloud emerges from the bottom-right corner. A, shiny centurion helmet illuminated by a spotlight on a more polished stone floor is seen, with a purple light shining on the fore. The letters spelling "report suspicious characters" is seen scattered all over the floor, with them wobbling and eventually spelling themselves as the camera pans to the left of it. We zoom away from it as a blue hyperspace tunnel briefly appears, with the stacked text "front, behind, left, right" (with "front, left" being on the top and "left, right" being at the bottom) pans away besides a sci-fi-esque door, which opens itself to reveal a bright room with moving lines throughout. A glowing dot floor is seen in front of it. We zoom into the door, with the text "walk", hovering over a red wood floor and lit by a spotlight, with the camera moving up to reveal the text "move", "far", and "away" being lit in sync with the announcer. As the camera zooms past it, we open up via moving leaves to reveal a glass of water subtly shaking (a reference to Jurassic Park), with the floating text "coming soon" following suit. After the second shake, the camera pans back through the leaves (now colored jungle green), segueing into the MPAA band screen.
 * Family: The AMC logo appears again with the scene changing to a fuzzy carpet with Reese's Pieces-like candies scattered around (a reference to E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial), and "keep track of your stuff" hovering over it. A -tinted spotlight hovers over it, sucking up the Reese's Pieces and the text. The camera zooms through it, revealing the text "report suspicious characters" (with the letters from "characters" twirling into their positions) is seen over a tiled floor as a Willy Wonka-style hat flies in and places itself at the end of "suspicious" and "characters". The dot of the first "i" in "suspicious" then comes off, releasing steam and a loud whistle. The camera pans to the right, which reveals a cartoonish hotel door with a stone bat on the top, a red carpet, and a sale sign with "NO HUMANS" scribbled on it, all on a stone floor (a subtle reference to Hotel Transylvania). A white suitcase with a red handle rolls in from the darkness and stops next to the door while bats fly out from it. The camera zooms into the door, revealing the text "walk", hovering over a red wood floor and lit by a spotlight, with the camera moving up to reveal the text "move", "far", and "away" being lit in sync with the announcer. The camera pans through them and reveals the text "coming soon" hovering around a green crystal ball (similar to Elphaba's crystal ball from The Wizard of Oz) on a stone floor. The camera zooms into the ball, segueing into the MPAA band screen.
 * Horror: The AMC logo appears and pans down, revealing a platform with blood stains all over it, the text "keep track of your stuff", and a white doll with ponytail hair, an orange flower on the heart,  lips, sharp teeth, and glowing cat eyes. The doll cracks its head, then lunges towards the screen, blacking it out. We rotate around the text "report suspicious characters" with lights circling around (similar to the deadlights from It), which then fade away. A static TV can be seen on the side as a hand appears and rocks it for a second. We zoom past the TV to see a door with a white glow behind it, and the text "front, behind, left, right" beside it. The door opens, revealing the floor to be a wooden textured one. We see the text "walk", with lights turning on behind it to reveal "move", "far", and "away". We zoom past the text and go up to an egg sitting on a chamber which opens, with the text "coming soon" glowing blue for a moment. We zoom into the glowing portion of the egg, segueing into the MPAA band screen.
 * Comedy: The AMC logo appears and pans down, revealing the "keep track of your stuff" text hovering over a floor (presumably a pool/casino game table) with a shot glass (with what appears to be beer) sitting there. Playing cards, from off-screen, are tossed under the table, residing underneath the text, while casino chips shortly fall afterwards onto them. We flip over to where the text is now next to a -trimmed phone in which the shot glass rolls into (with tiny beer puddles barely seen next to it). The phone buzzes, as text saying "WHERE'S DOUG?!?!" is typed on-screen from a pop-up table. We zoom underneath the text and see a darkly-lit room with a checker-boarded floor. The text "report suspicious characters" in a neon green color waves around (similar to a ghost). A knock-off version of the ghost trap from Ghostbusters (with a - palette instead of a - one) is tossed in from off-screen, opens up, and sucks the text in, with  and  streaks also being pulled in the process. But the text is instead stripped from it's neon green color, with it turning into the campaign's signature . Two buttons on the ghost trap light up. The camera then zooms past it, with the text "right" spinning next to a brown-colored speaker with a plastic cup (and one laying down on the bottom) on a mat sitting on a rugged floor. The camera zooms out, revealing the text "front, behind" and "left," all next to the right and in a stacked alignment, via a  light switching on. Everything thumps to the beat of the music, with a door sitting on the left. The door opens, revealing a light (ala the Virtual Studios logo) in which the camera zooms into. Over a maroon-colored polished plaid floor, the "walk" text is seen, with lights turning on behind it to reveal "move", "far", and "away". We fly by the text to a parallel glowing light, which is the edges of a bowling lane. A carrot orange bowling ball rolls down the lane while the background illuminates to reveal a retro-style space background with, , , , and purple abstract stars eventually filling the screen. The camera zooms up to the text "coming soon", with the two words stacked on top of each other. The words are dislodged from their positions and fly off, while two more large stars flip on-screen (one with  edges and a dark green interior, and another with  edges and a  interior). One of them engulfs the screen, segueing into the MPAA band screen.
 * Superhero: The AMC logo appears and pans down, revealing a -colored backpack sitting against a bedroom window, with a city skyline and police lights flashing outside. The backpack contains striped, a camera, an AMC and spiderweb badge, and a Spider-Man-like suit hanging from it. The screen briefly flashes  twice, before a web sling attaches to the backpack and pulls it away. All the while the "keep track of your stuff" text hovers beside it. Two ropes reach down, and the camera zooms through the window and pans down the city to reveal the text "report suspicious characters" hovering over a wood floor with "GCPD" (Standing for "Gotham City Police Department", a reference to Batman) and "EVIDENCE" inside black and red rectangles on a document folder. A name tag and a fan are seen on both sides of the folder, as it opens to reveal three photos (2 on the left containing a drawing of what appears to be the Joker combined with Harley Quinn, with "HA HA HA HA HA HA" written around it, with the other containing what appears to be a firecracker with "LIGHT" written vertically on a stone background), with a little post-it note with a picture of the left photo stuck on it. The right photo flaps a little bit before the fan turns and blows away the text. A silver-colored safe emerges from the darkness as two  lasers reveal the text "front, behind, left, right" (darkened at first, but gaining their signature  a second later). The two lasers move to the right and criss-cross each other, forming an "X" light. The two lasers combine horizontally and two  lasers zap themselves onto the safe, opening it and the screen on the right saying "access granted" in green. The safe emits a light which we zoom into, revealing the "walk" text, with lights turning on behind it to reveal "move", "far", and "away". After the camera pans by it, we zoom through an open manhole on a brick floor, and the -colored ooze from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles spilled on the very bottom from two bottles. A pizza box is seen as well. The "coming soon" text is messily arranged on top of the ooze, which brightens a couple seconds later to segue into the MPAA band screen.
 * Romance: The AMC logo appears and pans down, revealing a dimly lit dark blue background with bubbles flying past the screen until the camera gets to a seabed with the text "keep track of your stuff" hovering over it. Then, a locket with a sapphire heart floats down and settles on the bed (similar to the one from Titanic). The camera pans up and we see a masquerade mask with a maroon, bubbly crown, and featherpieces laying on a polished wood floor. The camera turns and reveals the text "report suspicious", followed by "characters" zooming in under it. The mask falls and resides on the text. A spotlight can be seen for a brief moment before the camera swiftly pans to the right to reveal the text "front, left" and "behind, right" wobbling next to a stone doorstep with vines around its holding frame with light beaming above a wooden door. One of the doors opens, with petals being thrown out of it. The camera then zooms into the other half of the door, which also opens. Over a maroon-colored polished plaid floor, the "walk" text is seen, with lights turning on behind it to reveal "move", "far", and "away". The text "coming soon", over a polished wood floor, is seen over a white rose laid over a green letter with "To My Love" in a  script font. As it zooms closer, the letter has a gold rim with vertical oblongs overlapping each other. The text dissolves and the oblongs move down, segueing into the MPAA band screen.
 * Action: The AMC logo appears and pans down, revealing a steering wheel with a skull at the center and a chain going off-screen on a sandy floor (a reference to Pirates of the Caribbean). The text "keep track of your stuff" hovers over it. A wind briefly shakes the letters, moves the wheel, and launching it into the air, breaking off the text. We pan backward to reveal a briefcase full of money, passports and keycards (it looks more like play money). The case also has two pockets containing a passport, a notebook with "project debriefing report" written on the front, and $100 bills with a rubber band stuck to it. There is also a  watch counting down sitting on the front, as the same notebook and a red handbook is tossed in the briefcase. All of this has the text "report suspicious characters" hovering up on the top flap. The watch reachers "00" and starts flickering, as the case closes, locks, and the camera pans over it. We pan to a stony Coliseum-like structure with vines wrapped around the steps and a wooden door, with both halves parting. The camera zooms through it and pans to the right past a wall with arrows scraped on it and "THOMAS" engraved. We briefly pass by leaves and the text "front, behind, left, right" is revealed in front of a mossy stone wall with an arrow pointing left engraved on it. A pitch-black door slides open, with tinted light being emitted from it. We move through the light, revealing the text "walk" is seen, with lights turning on behind it to reveal "move", "far", and "away". The camera zooms past "away", revealing the text "coming soon" hovering over a road. Two cars with their headlights on drift at the camera (a reference to Fast and Furious), an in a slow-motion shot, break the text. The other car drifts too far and one of its -colroed stripes engulf the camera, segueing into the MPAA band screen.
 * Drama/Indie/Foreign: The AMC logo appears and pans down, revealing the text "keep track of your stuff" with a thin rope tangling it. A voleyball with a red handprint face (resembling Wilson from Cast Away) is pushed off by the upper text and falls into the water, with it being carried away by a wave. The camera zooms past it and reveals the text "report suspicious" with shadows of the word "people" sneaking across a dimly lit floor. When every letter is in the middle, the screen abruptly brightens, revealing that they are in front of a prisoner scale. The letters then push themselves on the wall, with the "l" twitching a little before straightening itself. Lights flash by the bottom of the screen. The camera pans away and gets to a door with the stacked text "front, behind, left, right" next to a cartoonish door with "DETECTIVE" on the window. A  stool with white feet and a  bust is seen next to that. A figure with a bowler hat shows up at the door. After a few seconds, the door opens, emitting a large light that the camera zooms into. The text "walk" is seen, with lights turning on behind it to reveal "move", "far", and "away". The camera pans through it, and we see a beige-colored string dimly lit, with a sparking light revealing it to be a fuse, illuminating the text "coming soon". The fuse curls a little bit before going through the first "o" in "soon". The camera quickly zooms up to it, where a large explosion fills the screen and segues the trailer into the MPAA band screen.
 * It's Movie Time (Coca-Cola Freestyle): Many characters from the previous trailers (along with a jetpack dot from the previous trailer's Coca-Cola variant) are running towards a "Coca-Cola Freestyle" machine (a machine in which you can dispense any drink from any Coca-Cola brand and variant). The jetpack dot flies around and selects Sprite Zero-Sugar Grape, in which he pushes the "POUR" button and the drink is dispensed. The dot grabs it and drinks, causing him to teleport out of view. As two helicopters fly overhead, the characters take notice (along with three ninjas that swoop down) and all go for the machine. One of the ninjas selects Coca-Cola Cherry and drinks it, causing him to teleport through a hyper-space tunnel into a theater. Other characters teleport in, and the camera cuts to the same ending shot from the 1st trailer variant.

Technique: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: Since the sound cues and announcer lines vary on each trailer genre, music cues will be explained first:

Action/Sci-Fi

Availability: Extinct. The "It's movie time!" bumper alternated with the previous version in theaters that carried a Coca-Cola Freestyle machine.

14th Openings (Fall 2017-)
Logo: TBA.

Variant: TBA.

Technique: CGI animation and live action.

Music/Sounds: TBA.

Availability: Current.

15th Opening (We Make Movies Better) (2021-)
Logo: TBA.

Trivia:
 * This ad campaign would later be used by AMC's subsidiaries, Odeon, UCI, Cinesa, Filmstaden and Finnkino.
 * The advertising agency behind this opening is Barkley. It was directed by Jeff Cronenweth, cinematographer of Fight Club and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and scripted by The Hunger Games and Captain Phillips screenwriter Billy Ray.

Technique: Live action, with CGI for the logo at the end.

Music/Sounds: TBA.

Availability: Currently in use at AMC theatres, typically playing after the 2019 post-trailers bumper and during commercial breaks on TV networks.

Legacy: This opening is known for being the subject of certain memes.