Can a neon blue gummy worm cocktail save the movies?

ATTRACTIONS

Chocolate-hazelnut filled churros at the AMC Dine-In Staten Island 11, in New York. COLIN CLARK — THE NEW YORK TIMES

Loaded bacon truffle ranch fries and a margarita made with ghost chiles at the Scene restaurant at the Cinemark theater in Huntsville, Ala. ROBERT RAUSCH — THE NEW YORK TIMES

The Sexy Ban sushi roll at the Scene restaurant. ROBERT RAUSCH — THE NEW YORK TIMES

A Sandworm Slayer cocktail, a limited concession to celebrate “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” at the AMC Dine-In Staten Island 11, in New York. COLIN CLARK — THE NEW YORK TIMES

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By Ella Quittner

The New York Times

On a recent Tuesday, Sidney Hans finished a shift working in retail and ducked into a movie theater in New York City. He was ready to treat himself. But the main attraction wasn’t on the big screen.

It was in a cup — a cerulean vodka cocktail with a foam float and a crown of gummy worms perched languidly on top.

Hans, 23, had clocked a poster advertising the novelty drink — which tastes a bit like a Razz Apple Magic Fun Dip — the week before, when he’d gone to see “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.” Named the Sandworm Slayer, the cocktail was a limited-time concession at AMC Theaters to celebrate the sequel, and after several days had passed, Hans was ready to try it — for $24.86.

“It was definitely refreshing,” Hans said. “It reminded me of Hawaiian Punch. It helped me feel more relaxed during the film.” He had finished the drink and fished out the worms, which were saturated with liquid, by the time credits rolled.

Movie theaters, which have struggled with declining attendance for decades, are increasingly turning to specialty concessions like the Sandworm Slayer to lure Americans back through their doors. Across the country, one can now find themselves within a popcorn kernel’s throw of a theater serving elote flatbreads, Mike’s Hot Honey milkshakes, chocolate-hazelnut filled churros, three-meat strombolis and a host of other items that would make a character in “The Flick” groan.

Over-the-top movie theater cuisine isn’t new — but it is newly ubiquitous, as people crave bigger, better versions of everyday experiences following the pandemic.

“Why even bother to go to the movies anymore?” said Debbie Zelasny, a 51-year-old blogger who recently tried the Sandworm Slayer at an AMC theater in New Jersey. “So many things are streamed at home. You’re looking for something else to get you to go.”

Last year, the average window of theatrical release exclusivity — the period of time when a movie is available only in theaters — was just 37 days, according to Indie Wire. That window was closer to 90 days before the pandemic.

Ashley Hart, who works in human resources, orders dinner at a theater every other month. “I want bigger and better experiences because we missed out on so much,” said Hart, 24, who is partial to the Korean gochujang wings at Cinemark’s dine-in CUT! theater in Cypress, Texas. “These newer experiences mean more to me.”

Americans conditioned themselves to watch new movies at home, said Christopher Bridgland, a head of strategy for the creative agency Ogilvy, and now theaters must provide a destination that can compete with the couch. “The challenge for the movie industry is to create a moment in time — the idea that you need to be there to experience it, right now,” he said.

For a number of theater chains, that challenge has been met with an extensive and evolving selection of hot meals, novelty cocktails and gimmicky popcorn paraphernalia.

David Haywood, the senior vice president of the food and beverage for Cinemark, said merchandise like popcorn buckets are “a driver — but I would not call it a main driver — of the growth we’ve seen.” Nels Storm, the vice president of food and beverage product strategy for AMC Theaters, said limited-edition cocktails pegged to the release of “Deadpool & Wolverine” contributed significantly to the highest weekend concession revenue for the company since 2019.

Storm said that the expectation for choices is sky high as Generation Z becomes a primary customer category for the company.

Earlier this year, Ricardo Santiago-Carpio, a 24-year-old film student, splurged on dinner while attending a rerelease screening of “Uncut Gems” at a dine-in AMC theater in Los Angeles. “If I know I love the movie, I want to treat myself and get the Western barbecue burger and popcorn, and lay back and let the movie take me on this crazy journey.”

If drinks and dinner during a movie sounds familiar, it’s because a number of cinemas have offered them for ages. Alamo Drafthouse has provided dine-in theater menus for decades, often tailoring beverages and food at their 41 locations to specific films.

Before the pandemic, theater conglomerates like AMC and Cinemark were starting to follow suit. AMC opened 50 dine-in theaters between 2009 and 2020, and Cinemark opened two dine-in locations in 2019 and 2020. The Mexico-based company Cinépolis Luxury Cinemas entered the U.S. market in 2011 and now offer items like vanilla passion fruit martinis and bang bang shrimp at their 26 locations nationwide.

As the industry recovers, early figures seem to indicate that some of these efforts are paying off, even as admissions remain down. The extent to which revenue growth stems from higher prices — versus voracious buying — isn’t clear. From 2019 to 2023, food prices rose roughly 25%. Even so, annual reports for AMC and Cinemark showed that customers spent between 40% to 50% more per person on food and beverages in 2023 than they did in 2019.

AMC recently reported that average food and beverage revenue per person in the second quarter of this year was $8.34, compared with $7.95 in 2023, which suggests some steady growth.

“It’s a healthy increase per person, and it’s not driven by pricing,” Storm said. “We’ve seen guests coming more often and spending more when they come.”

Whether the gambit will help theaters survive in the long run remains a question as thorny as the sandworm mouth atop the “Dune: Part Two” popcorn buckets.