- AMC and Sony Pictures are offering 86,000 NFTs to early buyers of the latest Spider-Man film.
- The offering caused online ticket sales "to soar to the highest ever," AMC CEO Adam Aron said.
- Only rewards members and AMC retail investors can get an NFT with a pre-order of Spider-Man premiere tickets.
AMC is offering thousands of NFTs in conjunction with early movie-ticket sales of the latest Spider-Man movie.
The movie theater chain and Sony Pictures teamed up to offer up to 86,000 non-fungible tokens, aka NFTs, to retail investors and rewards members who pre-order tickets to the December 16 premiere of "Spider-Man: No Way Home," the company said in a Sunday press release.
Only AMC Investor Connect, the rewards program for retail investors, and AMC Stubs Premiere & A-List members are eligible for one of the thousands of NFTs, which come in 100 different designs, the press release said. AMC will deliver instructions to retrieve the NFT via email on December 22, and it must be redeemed by March 1, 2022.
In a Sunday tweet, AMC Chief Executive Officer Adam Aron wrote, "They'll go quick!"
In the upcoming film, a trailer revealed Spider-Man will face popular enemies like Doc Ock, Green Goblin, and Electro. Spider-Man, played by Tom Holland, is joined in the cast by Zendaya and Benedict Cumberbatch, among others.
On Monday, Aron said, "Our #AMCFirstEverNFT with @SonyPictures and Spider-Man: No Way Home caused AMC's online ticketing traffic Sunday night/Monday morning to soar, to the highest ever in AMC's entire history. Oh did we sell tickets! But we are sorry wait times got long with the unprecedented volumes."
Aron has become a leader among the retail investing community. He's capitalized on interest from retail traders — who have driven his stock price up more than 1,700% since the beginning of the year — through tweets and perks like free popcorn. And now he's doing it through NFTs, which are digital pieces of art tied to the blockchain.
The digital tokens along with blockchain technology have been criticized for harming the environment, but AMC said its offering is "eco-friendly." The press release said, "The Spider-Man NFT will be available to be redeemed at a dedicated site operated by WAX, an energy efficient, ultra-low carbon footprint blockchain and the first certified carbon neutral."