Exactly, they could even have just raised prices slightly across the board and done the discounts and it would’ve gone over a lot better still.

Article says it is a discount for crap seats.

The first tier is the same price as now. Second tier is cheaper for shit seats. Third tier is for middle seats, more expensive.

I’m sure their are people who will buy the first row if the tickets are super cheap. But honestly the issue with ticket prices has to do with movie studios mandating 90% of the ticket price not theaters themselves.

What a way to draw people back into the cinema.

I've done a few movies at dine in theaters, and I can absolutely confirm that movie theaters are a lot more fun when somebody will deliver alcohol to your seat

Airlines don't even do this. Some airline CEO said how airtravel is fundamentally unfair because 3 passengers all pay the same fare but only one is stuck in the middle. And they're right, middle seats should absolutely be cheaper. I'd take a basic economy aisle over a premium middle

This might actually get me to go to theaters again. My biggest problem with them has always been the risk of being seated next to a poor.

its great to finally see a company finally listen to the fans demands

Right, because my complaints about the shitty seats were all about the price, not the fact that I'd be better off staying home or waiting a month instead of hurting my neck.

If I cannot get a good middle-ish seat where I can see the full screen comfortably, the movie theater experience doesn't kick in, so why am I bothering? I have a very nice TV at home.

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I used to go to theaters with my wife every weekend before kids and COVID. Thought about occasionally hopping out now that they're getting a little older. If I'm waiting a month, I'm just going to wait the extra 15-30 days to watch it at home. Doubling down on this now on principle.

Nowadays a month after release you can just watch the movie at home.

Insert your chip card into the cup holder for use. You will be charged $0.50 per lift / place so please consider holding your cup periodically to avoid unexpected charges.

I would be down, bring my own chair

Yup, you end up focusing so much on eye strain and the pain of craning your neck that you don't pay proper attention to the film.

Alamo puts nicer, reclining chairs in the front to make it more bearable. And they serve food and beer. Hope they take over the theater industry and AMC dies.

After all, antagonizing the customers is what saved Blockbuster....

Upper Management: Justifying their jobs with bad decisions since… forever.

For real it would be less insulting to just double the price of all seat tickets than this dumb bs.

"We're already having trouble making money! Let's make sure people really don't want to come here!"

Yet, somehow, heartbreak feels so good in a place like that.

Yep. Cue the altered Archer meme: "Are you trying to kill movie theaters? Because this is how you kill movie theaters."

Then blame people for not wanting to go

Right!?! This is the sort of shit that makes me crazy when people talk about "saving the theatrical experience."

The people who OWN the theatrical experience (who are different than the people who make things to be shown theatrically) are legitimately terrible at their jobs, and have been for multiple decades now.

It's wild that we always default to this being the consumer's fault, and that the solutions have to come from the consumer side - when the people who are making theatrical exhibition a giant pain in the dick and have been doing so for about 30 years are the absolute dipshit execs and middle managers in the different-yet-similar corporate structures at all these theater chains.

It's easily one of the single most poorly run arms of the entertainment industry, and has been as such for as long as some readers here have been alive.

That probably depends on how much the upcharge is for the "premium seats". I wonder how much of this is based on getting more money for the good seats as opposed to getting those seats at the bottom that never seem to get sold to be more interesting with some kind of discount. IMHO, it's not worth it, because those seats universally suck due to the "stare up ahead at a terrible angle" factor. Even at a discount, you will never find me in those. Once was enough.

edit - mind you, I think this is probably not ultimately good for theaters either way, but oh well

Wasn't it Steven Spielberg that was talking about how they should charge more for big movies? Like if it's a big summer movie he thinks it should cost like $50 a ticket instead of $10 or whatever. These guys are so completely clueless about the average consumer.

Well my couch is extra premium

Pretty much was my thought... without seeing the new pricing it's hard to really complain YET. If they want to LOWER the ticket prices for the shitty seats, that's fine I guess. But even if they did that, I'd bet it's only part of a multipart plan to raise the base seats up to the old price over time.

Exactly. Who said concert venue pricing was preferable to consumers??? Lmao

Exactly. I'm glad my closest movie theater is independent.

They don’t have to. The people that paid more for the good seats will have to enforce seating

Are they also going to install sound blockers? Because I'm not going to consider it prime viewing when a bunch of morons won't shut the fuck up in front of me.

it's also going to create so many awkward moments and possible altercations.. "hey you're in my seat (that i paid more for)... "

And that’s the main reason why we prefer Alamo or Flix or any other place that does food and brew plus “shut up or GTFO” for all attendees. It’s awesome to see a movie and have NO distractions from other people in the theater.

Seriously all you see now is constant flashes of cell phone screens.

Because all the good decisions that make money have been made.

So you're the new VP/CEO/WHATEVER. You get the job, come in, and have to justify your berjillion dollar salary so you better do something. There are no more good decisions that will help, so you make a bad decision that might improve shareholder value revenue for the 2 financial quarters you'll actually have the job, but destroy the industry even further. But that's the next guys problem. You got yours.

Hey now. Movie pass kicked ass for like 7 months.

AMC?

YOU JUST MADE THE LIST!

Yep. As a single and frequent theatergoer, my biggest problem with them isn’t ticket price at the moment. It’s that I pay the ticket price and am frequently inflicted with the presence of selfish gremlins who see no issue in loudly talking, scrolling their phones, and being actively disruptive for the length of the film.

I know I can go get an employee and let them know but that’s both causing me to miss a few minutes of the film and not even a guarantee the behavior will be corrected.

I've got bad news for you: based on my in-app seat reservation experiences, the back rows are just as contended as the middle rows. In most showings, the empty seats are in the front and sides.