AMC Entertainment is launching a new distribution company, Leawood Films, to bring independently financed movies without traditional distributors onto its screens. The initiative aims to address a shortage of new theatrical content since the pandemic and 2023 labour strikes, giving small and medium-budget films from established and emerging filmmakers a route to cinemas while leaving major studio releases untouched.

Unlike AMC's Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour deal, Leawood Films is not chasing blockbusters and will be genre agnostic, covering everything except big tentpole releases. The firm has enlisted veteran advisers including former Warner Bros. film boss Toby Emmerich and former Disney marketing chief Ricky Strauss, and will operate from Los Angeles and Leawood, Kansas. Films will get at least 45 days before premium video-on-demand release and 90 days before subscription streaming, with filmmakers keeping most of the post-theatrical revenue; the slate is not expected to hit screens until 2027 or 2028.