AMC abruptly pulled a Black-led film from hundreds of theaters the same weekend it gave the Melania flick a wide release to mostly empty seats, one of its producers has revealed to the Daily Beast.
Moses the Black, a redemption story of a Chicago gangster who turned his life around after experiencing saintly visions, was pulled from 300 screenings on opening weekend with just three days’ notice ahead of Black History Month, said Alexandros Potter, one of its producers.
The 11th-hour cancellation meant the opening weekend performed 40 percent below expectations, Potter said.
“This is a black-led film with a message of redemption,” Potter told the Beast. “It’s out there to help people… AMC would claim that it’s a purely, you know, it’s a business decision at the end of the day, but how do you justify that? You let the film run.”
The film’s cast included Love & Basketball star Omar Epps in a lead role, as well as The Day of the Jackal’s Chukwudi Iwuji and rappers Wiz Khalifa, Skilla Baby, and Quavo.
Potter was given little explanation for the last-minute cancellations. He said he received a brief note from AMC on Jan. 27—three days before its opening night, the same weekend as the Amazon MGM Studios documentary Melania hit sparsely attended theaters. Potter said AMC cited poor advance sales as the reason, informing him that all of its theaters with fewer than 25 screens that had not yet sold any advance tickets were pulling the film.
However, Potter said that AMC canceled showings in theaters that had already received advance sales, and that would-be moviegoers were refunded. He said he has never known a theater to cancel screenings where tickets were already sold.
“We’ve never seen this, and even if AMC does sell one ticket, they normally don’t refund patrons and cancel show times,” he said.
AMC told the Daily Beast that Moses the Black “played at all 339 AMC theaters originally scheduled to exhibit the film.” It said that it “evaluates audience demand for all films that play on our screens, and individual showtimes may be adjusted based on advance ticket sales.”
AMC added in a statement that it “worked closely with the distributor to provide a national theatrical platform, supported the film through marketing on AMC social channels, and made tickets available seven weeks in advance of its opening. In addition, the title was extended for an additional week at select locations where audience demand was strongest.”
Potter said that AMC eventually played the film in the previously agreed-upon theaters, but did not do so at many locations until Wednesday, when theater traffic is notably slower.
Potter said the film was still being shown on 10 screens as of Tuesday. He noted that four of the theaters still carrying Moses the Black, which received a score of 23 on Rotten Tomatoes but an audience score of 78 percent, are in Chicago, one of the cities in which it performed best.
Moses the Black portrays Epps’ character, Malik, as a feared gang leader from Chicago’s West Side who returns home from prison determined to avenge the murder of his best friend. Before he can act, his grandmother leaves him a small icon of St. Moses the Black—a 4th-century African robber turned Desert Father—whose story begins to shadow his own, leading to visions that forever change his life.
A press release from the film crew, shared in advance with the Beast, calls out AMC and demands answers about the cancellations, which it says cut its opening-weekend run from approximately 900 screens to 600.
“Why did they choose not to honor their commitment to screen Moses the Black after audiences and filmmakers were led to expect it would be shown?” the release says of AMC, the country’s largest theater chain.
It continues, “What message does this send to creative partners who rely on good-faith agreements with exhibitors? While ‘business reasons’ or ‘pre-sales’ may be presented as justification, refunding already sold tickets and cancelling screenings days before release undermines trust, partnership, and good faith—and sends a troubling message to the communities these cinemas serve.”
Reginald Akkeem Berry Sr., founder of Saving Our Sons Chicago and a consultant and executive producer on Moses the Black, said AMC’s decision to significantly decrease its opening weekend screens was “shameful.”
“What are they afraid of…that peace will increase?” Berry said. “Moses the Black gives a true view into the lives, choices, and consequences of real people. Most importantly, it’s a necessity for those who endured what Moses the Black reveals.”
The film crew called on AMC to explain why it pulled the film from being shown to working-class and underrepresented communities.
“The question for AMC—and for America—is this: do you truly honor truthful storytelling about your own people and communities—those marginalized, criminalized, and excluded—especially during Black History Month, when their lives are publicly acknowledged as meaningful?” the statement said. “We raise these questions in good faith, honouring everyone who participated in making the film: the cast and crew, the people and communities of Chicago, and the legacy of St. Moses the Black.”
