grim22 Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 Pretty big move by AMC and the first actual experiment with varied pricing in the US https://deadline.com/2023/02/amc-entertainment-theater-ticket-prices-seat-location-screen-1235250978/ Quote Theater chain AMC Entertainment is now shifting ticket prices depending on where seats are located in theaters in an initiative called Sightline AMC. The seating selections based on their sightline of the movie screen within the auditorium include Value Sightline, Standard Sightline and Preferred Sightline sections. Standard Sightline, the most common, is sticking to the traditional ticket cost. Preferred Sightline seats are typically in the middle of the auditorium and cost slightly more than Standard seats. Stubs A-List members will have the Preferred Sightline premium waived to encourage membership in its loyalty program. Sightline at AMC is applied to all showtimes that begin after 4 p.m. at participating locations and is not available on Discount Tuesday. AMC said it’s launched in select markets but didn’t specify which and is expected to continue expanding to AMC and AMC Dine-In locations by the end of 2023. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keysersoze123 Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 I am not certain the cost associated with the enforcement(they will need more ushers for sure) will be made up with increased ticket costs. Plus I am not sure how this is good for AMC as theaters dont make that much money with ticket sales. They make money on overpriced crappy popcorn, soda and other stuff. I dont see this working out at all here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxOfficeFangrl Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 (edited) AMC hopes to push people to join their loyalty program so the fees are waived. If you live in areas with other options and you weren't loyal to AMC, you would probably take them, so I'm not sure how this will work out. Edited February 7, 2023 by BoxOfficeFangrl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChipDerby Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 Idiotic idea. But whatever I rarely ever sit in the middle anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Reynolds Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 this will get people back to the cinemas , i would assume premium screen imax can't have premiums on premiums , correct ? standard screens right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlangonz Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 Kinda shocked to learn this has been a thing for a while in Middle East and India just like @charlie Jatinder was after learning it didn't happened in the US. Don't know about Canada but from my knowledge it hasn't happened in LATAM either. I tried to dig in Spain and apparently has been tried before but unsuccessfully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grim22 Posted February 6, 2023 Author Share Posted February 6, 2023 3 minutes ago, Carlangonz said: Kinda shocked to learn this has been a thing for a while in Middle East and India just like @charlie Jatinder was after learning it didn't happened in the US. Don't know about Canada but from my knowledge it hasn't happened in LATAM either. I tried to dig in Spain and apparently has been tried before but unsuccessfully. In India it's based on front to back. The front few rows are cheap and the back rows are expensive. It's not based on location within the rows. Like back row side costs the same as back row middle. Even in the 90s, Balcony tickets were more expensive than Stall tickets. And the front 2-4 rows were dirt cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie Jatinder Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 2 minutes ago, grim22 said: In India it's based on front to back. The front few rows are cheap and the back rows are expensive. It's not based on location within the rows. Like back row side costs the same as back row middle. Even in the 90s, Balcony tickets were more expensive than Stall tickets. And the front 2-4 rows were dirt cheap. I think India should likely move towards that system as well. Booking website has started suggesting people to buy better seats which are usually in centre-ish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Duncan Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 Feel like the better variable pricing would come from just having big tentpoles be $15 (at least for the standard price) and then smaller movies being around $7-8. Kinda worked for 80 for Brady, which overperformed its tracking. But curious to know how this will all work. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porthos Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 51 minutes ago, Ryan Reynolds said: this will get people back to the cinemas , i would assume premium screen imax can't have premiums on premiums , correct ? standard screens right? lol. That's exactly what they'd do, IMO, given the popularity of PLF screens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porthos Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 (edited) HOLY CHRIST!!!!! @Ryan Reynolds ======= Imagine what Avatar 3 in 3D would cost at that theater! Edited February 6, 2023 by Porthos 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddyxx Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 I always sit in the back anyways. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verrows Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 Yeah that's going to backfire completely. I'm a theatre purist and cheerleader but even I would advise people to pass at that point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porthos Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 2 minutes ago, Verrows said: Yeah that's going to backfire completely. I'm a theatre purist and cheerleader but even I would advise people to pass at that point. I see the cold hearted logic as it does make it closer to other ticketing venues like sporting or concert events. Though in those cases the venues are much much larger, so the analogy only goes so far. And, as noted, it works in other countries. The problem is, when society as a whole is used to something with literally, lit-er-a-lly, 100 years of precedence, fucking with it carries all sorts of risks. I'm not going to be so foolish as to say this has no chance of working out, as track records on those sorts of proclamations ain't great. But calling it a risky bet? One that has a high likelihood of engineering bad will? Oh yeah. That I'm comfortable with. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porthos Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 16 minutes ago, Porthos said: HOLY CHRIST!!!!! @Ryan Reynolds ======= Imagine what Avatar 3 in 3D would cost at that theater! I think what really makes me laugh about this picture isn't so much the amount of "Preferred" Seats, but that the cheap seats are literally the very first row and nothing else. Greedy bastards over at AMC couldn't even add the second row of neck crane seats to the "Value" tier. Gives lie to their whole "Sightline" explanation. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grim22 Posted February 6, 2023 Author Share Posted February 6, 2023 21 minutes ago, Porthos said: HOLY CHRIST!!!!! @Ryan Reynolds ======= Imagine what Avatar 3 in 3D would cost at that theater! ONE ROW of cheap seats, and about 25-30% of the theater at an upcharge. Great work AMC. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porthos Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 (edited) 15 minutes ago, grim22 said: ONE ROW of cheap seats, and about 25-30% of the theater at an upcharge. Great work AMC. Found the theater he was talking about. "Preferred Sightline" is about 34.8% of the seats, while "Value Sightline" a pitiful 8.4%. Edited February 6, 2023 by Porthos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keysersoze123 Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 10 minutes ago, Porthos said: Found the theater he was talking about. "Preferred Sightline" is about 34.8% of the seats, while "Value Sightline" a pitiful 8.4%. Which one is that. My tracking of ticket price is wrong for these theaters with "preferred seating". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grim22 Posted February 6, 2023 Author Share Posted February 6, 2023 11 minutes ago, Porthos said: Found the theater he was talking about. "Preferred Sightline" is about 34.8% of the seats, while "Value Sightline" a pitiful 8.4%. Did a very very quick calculation, and there seem to be 36 seats with the extra 1$, and 18 seats with the 2$ off. Is making no extra money on the normal screening worth burning this goodwill over? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porthos Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 (edited) 13 minutes ago, keysersoze123 said: Which one is that. My tracking of ticket price is wrong for these theaters with "preferred seating". https://www.fandango.com/amc-schererville-16-aaisc/theater-page?date=2023-02-10 https://www.amctheatres.com/movie-theatres/gary/amc-schererville-16 Specifically, the Titanic re-release has variable pricing. Edited February 6, 2023 by Porthos 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
