How Ticket Sales for 'The Odyssey' Threw AMC Theaters' App and Site Into Chaos

If you tried to access AMC Theaters' website or app this afternoon for any reason, you might have found yourself waiting in line. Maybe you're still in line. Whether you're trying to buy tickets, check on an existing reservation, or review future show times, AMC is forcing you to queue up. Why? Because of The Odyssey, of course.

AMC Theatres' servicesare currently in chaos

Tickets for Christopher Nolan's film The Odyssey went on sale today, and it threw AMC's operation into chaos. If your goal was to acquire tickets, I wish you the best, as wait times hit as long as one hour during peak traffic today. Anyone who has attempted to buy presale tickets for anything particularly hyped-whether that be a movie or a concert-knows how cutthroat it can be (and how brutal those website queues are). Glitches and delays are par for the course.

It makes sense for users to wait in line if they're trying to buy tickets for The Odyssey. But, for some reason, AMC is making the rest of us wait in line, too, no matter what we're accessing the site for. I only opened the app this afternoon to cancel one of my evening reservations, but I found myself in line to do so. It was only after a quick Google search that I realized why AMC was acting so strange.

AMC doesn't make this clear on its own site or app, however. You just get dropped in a queue, with an ETA and a loading bar. And once you're "in," you're just presented with the home page of the app. I assumed that AMC would plop you first in a page for The Odyssey, but no: I had to go out seeking that movie myself. (I got tickets, by the way, so I guess waiting in line works.)

Getting around AMC's queue

If you're trying to do literally anything other than buy tickets for Christopher Nolan's next movie, you'll just need to wait in line. Eventually, you will get through, and you'll be able to use the app as you normally would. (I was able to cancel my reservation just fine.) If you're trying to pull up an existing ticket to present at the theater, you might want to check your email for it, since that'll be faster than waiting in the queue, or ask a rep at the theater to pull up the reservation on their end. (Though who knows what AMC's internal systems are like right now.)