The US' second largest cinema chain is trying to boost lackluster ticket sales for Russell Crowe's new film Cinderella Man by offering moviegoers their money back if they don't like the picture.
The rare promotion by AMC Theaters comes amid disappoin-ting ticket receipts for the big-budget depression-era boxing film, directed by Ron Howard and co-starring Renee Zellweger.
Since its June 3 opening amid a massive marketing campaign, the Universal Pictures epic has struggled to reach the US$50 million mark at the North American box office.
As the film battled to cover its costs, AMC decided to give it a leg up by encouraging cinema-goers to take a second look by offering to refund the ticket price to dissatisfied viewers.
"We felt it was getting lost and we needed to bring more attention to it," AMC spokeswoman Pam Blase told Daily Variety in its Wednesday edition of the extremely rare promotional
technique.
The chain made the offer of free tickets to disappointed viewers in a string of newspaper ads across the US, including the New York Times and Washington Post, and on its online ticketing site, Movietickets.com.
Former action star and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday came out swinging on behalf of Hollywood stuntmen, slamming a decision by Oscar organizers not to recognize the unsung heroes of cinema.
The surprisingly direct attack came a week after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences rejected a fresh proposal to create a new Oscar statuette to honor the achievements of the world's stunt coordinators.
"I was deeply disappointed by the failure of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences once again to recognize stuntmen and women and their great contribution to the film industry," said Schwarzenegger.
"I know firsthand the value of these dedicated professionals, and without them there would be no action heroes. In fact, there would be no movies," the star of such stunt-heavy flicks as Terminator and True Lies said.
"Stunt coordinators are responsible for every piece of action in a film, making films more exciting and drawing the audience in," he said, calling for the Academy to create a new category to recognize stunt coordinators.
The Academy's board of governors on June 20 denied the stuntmen's request for coordinators of the eye-catching feats to be made eligible for a golden statuette.
"The Board is simply not prepared to institute any new annual awards categories," said Academy President Frank Pierson, explaining that the Academy was instead trying to cut down on the number of awards.
The 78-year-old Academy has introduced only two new awards in the past 25 years.
But Schwarzenegger noted that the top awards body had created a new category for technical achievements, which are not presented on Oscars night but rather at a special ceremony beforehand, and suggested that the governors make a similar gesture to stuntmen.
"It is my hope they will reconsider their decision and honor stunt coordinators in the same way," the 57-year-old governor said.
Hollywood's Universal Studios is preparing to make The Bourne Ultimatum, the third in the hit series of movies based on Robert Ludlum's gripping spy thrillers, the industry press said.
The studio has sealed a deal believed to be worth more than two million dollars with screenwriter Tony Gilroy to script the film, Daily Variety said.
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