Heartbreak Feels Good For One More Year As Nicole Kidman Renews Contract With AMC

Nicole Kidman has long been one of the most popular actors of our time, but the popularity she's seen surrounding her new role as the face of the AMC theaters chain is pretty much unprecedented. Her pre-show commercial has become a magical calling card to our love of movies, and it appears that she will continue to inspire us (and make us laugh) through further AMC spots.

On an August 4 earnings call, AMC Entertainment chairman and CEO Adam Aron announced that Kidman's contract as the spokesperson for the major theater chain was renewed for another year following the response to her first ad for the company.

We all know the one. In the pre-show spot, Kidman dreamily tells the viewers about how AMC Theatres can put magic into our lives. We've all seen it at least once at this point, and it has been memed, parodied, and has even inspired several Change.org petitions since its premiere.

Kidman's commercial will always loom large in our memory after being memed and spotlighted in the way it was — but for us film nerds, the legacy of her spot really hinges on the speech she gives in the segment. The full monologue reads:

"We come to this place for magic. We come to AMC Theatres to laugh, to cry, to care because we need that, all of us. That indescribable feeling we get when the lights begin to dim and we go somewhere we've never been before. Not just entertained but somehow reborn together. Dazzling images on a huge silver screen. Sound that I can feel. Somehow, heartbreak feels good in a place like this. Our heroes feel like the best part of us and stories feel perfect and powerful because here, they are."

It's cheesy and heightened when played out like it is in the Kidman commercial, but there's no denying she's right, no matter what theater chain we're visiting. Going to the movies is like going to church. There's a reason you're reading this article on this website right now: you love the movies as much as we do, and you probably love the viewing experience as much as the pictures themselves.

Kidman is well aware of the power of films and how this commercial puts that front and center. "I can't tell you why it worked or why it's gone viral," she told GQ in March 2022. "But what I can tell you is that the reaction is a direct result of the amount of people going back to theaters to enjoy the movies. And that is exciting."