We come to this place for magic, not money.

Nicole Kidman reveals what kind of payday she got for viral AMC ad: ‘We did it out of the purest of intentions’

We come to this place for magic, not money.

By Shania Russell

Shania Russell

Shania Russell is a news writer at *, *with five years of experience. Her work has previously appeared in SlashFilm and Paste Magazine.

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March 3, 2026 6:30 p.m. ET

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Nicole Kidman in AMC ad. Credit:

Nevermind the money, Nicole Kidman is in it for the love of cinema.

Kidman's love of the silver screen should come as no surprise to anyone who has seen her wax poetic about the power of movies in her viral AMC Theaters ad campaign. But just in case there were any doubts, the actress recently confirmed that a big paycheck isn't what convinced her to star in the much-memed AMC ad.

"The weirdest thing about that… I had no idea that thing was gonna work," Kidman admitted during her Monday night visit to *The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon*. "We did it out of the purest of intentions."

The *Babygirl* star shared that she was the one who brought writer Bill Ray and director Jeff Cronenweth onboard, explaining that she felt a need to help the theater industry in the midst of the 2021 pandemic lockdown.

Jimmy Fallon interviews Nicole Kidman on March 2.

Todd Owyoung/NBC

"It was during COVID when we did it, and the crew that I was working with on *Being the Ricardos*, I said, ‘Would you guys be willing to do this?'" she recalled. "And Jeff Cronenweth, who was the DP, he said, 'I'll direct it.' [I] called in all these favors."

As for the paycheck? "We did it for nothing," Kidman said. "And then it went off."

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Indeed, the simple enough ad campaign — which sees Kidman saunter in from the rain to walk up and down the aisles of an empty theater, reciting some incredibly memorable dialogue — went out into the world and made its mark. Since its 2021 debut, fans have been recreating the ad, repeating its iconic lines and even dressing up as Kidman for Halloween. There have been countless parodies of the mega-viral ad and lots of unofficial merch created in its honor.

Kidman has taken it all in stride… though she does occasionally hide her face when she enters an AMC. Back in 2024 Kidman told Elle that she's an especially big fan of drag queens spoofing the ad in their stage sets, sharing, "My dream will be to be onstage doing it with a drag queen. I’ve got to be able to do that at some point."

Nicole Kidman in her viral AMC ad.

She also emphasized that her "desire to keep cinemas alive" was very personal.

"I’ve had the best experiences in cinema," she shared. "I’d pretend I was going to school; I’d forge a note, and I’d go and sit in a movie theater. That’s a safe haven for me, so the idea of those not existing—that’s just not part of the equation in my lifetime."

Kidman added that she's still more than willing to be the butt of a few jokes if that's what it takes to help the theater industry.

"I’ll do whatever it takes," she said with a laugh.

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Source: “EW Movie”