Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos make watching TV better, and their spoof of Nicole Kidman‘s infamous — yet iconic — AMC Theaters commercial from almost three years ago is one reason why.
The Live With Kelly and Mark hosts teased their upcoming live show from the site of the 96th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, and to do that the beloved couple borrowed a page from Kidman’s 2021 AMC commercial. You know, the one where she gets all melodramatic about the movie-watching experience that was parodied and meme’d everywhere.
For their iteration, Ripa and Consuelos not only spoofed the AMC commercial but they also parodied a number of classics, like A Few Good Men, Basic Instinct and Dirty Dancing. They also parodied at least one instant classic, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie.
Ripa and Consuelos nailed just about every part of Kidman’s role, from the outfits to their slow stroll into the movie theater. Even the raspy, over-the-top delivery’s uncanny.
In an interview with People, Ripa said the concept was all completely new to her because she hadn’t been aware of Kidman’s commercial, in which she attempts to sell movie theaters as the be-all and end-all of cinematic experiences. One of Kidman’s most iconic lines went, “Somehow, heartbreak feels good in a place like this.”
“I tend to see movies when they’re available for streaming at home, just because I tend to not like to go to movie theaters in general, so I was totally unfamiliar with this AMC movie preamble by Nicole Kidman,” Ripa told the outlet. ” That was truly me walking blindly into something having never seen it before. And so they kept playing it for me on the computer and I would say, ‘Okay, stop. Play it again.'”
The spoof has perfect timing. AMC rolled out three more commercials with Kidman as the lead. According to Variety, the rollout kicked off this month with a new 30-second version of the “We Make Movies Better” ad.
The 2024 Academy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, airs live from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 10, at 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m. ET on ABC. Follow along at ETonline.com for full Oscars coverage, including red carpet arrivals, the complete winners list and more.
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