Did you know that the Nicole Kidman AMC video was written by the co-writer of Terminator: Dark Fate? It’s true. His name is Billy Ray, and he also contributed to the script for Gemini Man. Then he had the gall to speak through the mouth of Aquaman’s mom and tell us that our lives would be better if we spent them in a movie theater. Make your own bed, Billy, that’s all we’re saying.
But even with the glaring logical fallacy that is “The guy who wrote Terminator 6 thinks you’ll have a swell time at the talkies” leaving spots in our eyes, the video has become a part of our shared contemporary cultural heritage. Everything about it — from its surreal, soft-focused approach to the way that it’s advertising a place that you’ve already paid to get into — has helped it to burrow into our hearts like a terribly earnest parasite. It reminded us, more than anything, that to go to the theater is to invite the unexpected. Sometimes your very essence will be shaken by colorful characters and gut-wrenching allegory. Other times, you’ll watch the star of Moulin Rouge fail to blink while she extolls the virtues of spending 120 minutes sitting in someone else’s popcorn-scented butt sweat.
The question, of course, is “How long can a good thing last?” The Nicole Kidman AMC video exploded onto screens in Sept. 2021, meaning that it’s lasted longer than any kindergarten class gerbil ever has. Eventually, the good people at American Multi-Cinema will want to change things up, won’t they? It would be heartbreaking. Luckily, they’ve got a good spot for that sort of thing.
Even more luckily, AMC has no intention of severing their relationship with Kidman, at least not as of April of this year. That’s when CEO Adam Aron told Variety that the company has plans to continue the onslaught of Kidman-centric reminders to visit an AMC, played in an AMC. Better yet, he revealed that the cultural touchstone would be receiving the highest possible honor: A sequel.
“I’m not sure when we’re going to do it — this year or next year,” Aron said of the forthcoming follow-up to the ad. “We’ll try to live up to your expectations when the time comes.”
Traditionally, the second chapter of a series ends on a dark note, so it’s anyone’s guess what will happen to Kidman in part two. The smart money’s on a lost limb, the dramatic reveal of a terrible secret, or the concessions stand being super sticky.