The box office is healing, and AMC Theatres generated its highest revenue in the company’s 106-year history last weekend thanks to “Spider-Man” and “The Odyssey.” So, of course, despite calling Hollywood both “racist” and “terrible,” Donald Trump has inserted himself in this showbiz success story.
On Sunday night, the White House posted a parody of Nicole Kidman’s beloved AMC Theatres ad in a video seemingly created with generative AI. Similar to the real commercial, which plays at the cinema before each showtime, the clip opens with a rain puddle showing the reflection of the White House, as a man gazes upon the building’s illuminated columns and reveals a “Make America Great Again” hat.
Over the same orchestral music used by AMC, a narrator declares, “We come to this place for MAGA.” (In Kidman’s world, it’s “magic.”) The White House video continues to riff on the original script: “The indescribable feeling we get when we hear the national anthem…”
Like a sedated Jan. 6 insurrectionist, the man wanders straight into the White House, past a painting of Trump holding up his fist after the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. Then, projected on a fairly small screen are scenes of the president signing executive orders, speaking at rallies and standing with other world leaders.
“Under this administration, we’re going somewhere we’ve never been. We aren’t just watching history; we’re making it,” says the narrator. “Rebuilding our country better than ever. A country where we don’t do heartbreak — we do victory.” The White House clip even jacks the AMC Theatres logo for a title card that reads: “MAGA: Welcome to the Golden Age.”
Variety has reached out to representatives for Kidman, AMC Theatres and screenwriter Billy Ray, who penned the ad, for comment. None immediately responded.
