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AMC to start charging for where you sit.

GoPokes83

By GoPokes83
in Movies and TV

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I cannot recall the last full auditorium in which I watched a movie. It was a way to hell before Covid.

But yeah, start charging a premium for those empty seats. Our AMC closed about a year ago, despite a prime location on ‘restaurant row.’  Sounds like they are continuing to refine that operating model.

Edited by slorch
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AUS-97HORN

AUS-97HORN 11813

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man, i totally mis-understood which AMC we were talking about here.

 

I was thinking this was the television network AMC+   

 

and I was like-  wow, that might mean  if you use their app anywhere other than your house they are gonna charge extra!!!!!!

 

totally wiffed on that one.  didnt even occur to me that AMC was still a theater company... guess Alamo has forced them from my mind.

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WBT

WBT 20649

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Lulz. I still like going to the movies and 90+% of the time there's fewer than 5 people in the theater. I guess it'll be like the 2011-2014 Astros where you can buy a cheap ticket and sit wherever you want.

 

 

 

 

Edited by WBT
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Js1

Js1 85472

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Just now, WBT said:

Lulz. I still like going to the movies and 90+% of the time there's fewer than 5 people in the theater.  I guess it'll be like the 2011-2014 Astros where you can buy a cheap ticket and sig wherever you want.

 

This. I saw Avatar 2 like a week after release and the theater was like 25% capacity. My recliner didn’t work so I just moved over a seat. 

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HamsterHookah

HamsterHookah 112

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I've seen one movie in a theatre since 2020 (Covid) and that was about 6 months ago. What I noticed was that when buying tickets you have to pick your seat; the white dots denote open seats and the red dots are those who have already purchased. Not unlike buying an airline ticket in that experience.

The middle seats we wanted were all chosen. I would have paid more in that instance to get the preferred, just as I would for the aisle seat up front in a plane if I didn't have status.

Not seeing what the big deal here is: are people concerned AMC will alienate the handful of people who still consistently go to movies? This is a revenue increase for people who don't go anyways and who don't care about the price point because they go to the movies 1 or 2x a year.

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huge

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1 hour ago, Gene Parmesan said:

The prices are already to a point where the added value of the movie experience isn't worth the costs.  At least for me.  Taking my family of 5 is easily a $100 between ticket/popcorn/soda.  I'll opt for the 20 buck in home rental every time. 

Noted

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tx 3 putt

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3 hours ago, slorch said:

I cannot recall the last full auditorium in which I watched a movie. It was a way to hell before Covid.

But yeah, start charging a premium for those empty seats. Our AMC closed about a year ago, despite a prime location on ‘restaurant row.’  Sounds like they are continuing to refine that operating model.

 

opening night Maverick, 10pm feature - there was 12 of us there 

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HamsterHookah

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1 hour ago, Gene Parmesan said:

The prices are already to a point where the added value of the movie experience isn't worth the costs.  At least for me.  Taking my family of 5 is easily a $100 between ticket/popcorn/soda.  I'll opt for the 20 buck in home rental every time. 

You are making the point for me: people already don't go because of the economic realities of what it takes to go to a movie (versus the substitutes we have available to us). When we do go, whether that be 1, 2 or 3x a year, we know it's a bad economic decision. But we are doing it anyways.

With that in mind, if you can get 20% more revenue of out of us, because what's the difference in paying $100 or $120 when already acknowledging you are making a bad economic decision but doing it anyways, while not alienating the regulars (who are probably the AMC moviegoer members and get free select seats), you get more squeeze. That's what I'm guessing the thinking is. 

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2 hours ago, HamsterHookah said:

You are making the point for me: people already don't go because of the economic realities of what it takes to go to a movie (versus the substitutes we have available to us). When we do go, whether that be 1, 2 or 3x a year, we know it's a bad economic decision. But we are doing it anyways.

With that in mind, if you can get 20% more revenue of out of us, because what's the difference in paying $100 or $120 when already acknowledging you are making a bad economic decision but doing it anyways, while not alienating the regulars (who are probably the AMC moviegoer members and get free select seats), you get more squeeze. That's what I'm guessing the thinking is. 

If you make a dime, but could have had 3 nickels…

Age old proposition.

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hobbes2702

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35 minutes ago, SubliminalHorn said:

Weren’t theaters already seeing a decline in attendance pre-pandemic? I’m sure this will help get those numbers up. But I don’t really care, I only go to Alamo anyway

Same. Although I used to love the AMC in San Antonio. They always had the best popcorn which is a must for me

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wild_turkey

wild_turkey 3177

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The prices are already to a point where the added value of the movie experience isn't worth the costs.  At least for me.  Taking my family of 5 is easily a $100 between ticket/popcorn/soda.  I'll opt for the 20 buck in home rental every time. 

When you have 3 kids, ordinary experiences tend to cost more.

Now do a Texas football game, skiing, or Disney World.

Suddenly $100 for 2-3 hours of entertainment seems like a steal.
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Texzilla58

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My wife and I used to go to the movies a lot, especially when we lived in Portland. I’ve been in the home theater business since the 90’s and have had kickass THX systems but we went for the experience.

We don’t go anymore because the experience sucks. It’s not the price. I would pay for a theater experience with great seats but isolated from couples bringing young kids to inappropriate movies, asswipes doing FaceTime on their phone, dumbasses talking to the screen, numbskulls in middle seats that have to get up eight times during to movie to piss or get something to eat, folks fucking, and other kinds of intrusive behavior.

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Hermanator

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31 minutes ago, Texzilla58 said:

My wife and I used to go to the movies a lot, especially when we lived in Portland. I’ve been in the home theater business since the 90’s and have had kickass THX systems but we went for the experience.

We don’t go anymore because the experience sucks. It’s not the price. I would pay for a theater experience with great seats but isolated from couples bringing young kids to inappropriate movies, asswipes doing FaceTime on their phone, dumbasses talking to the screen, numbskulls in middle seats that have to get up eight times during to movie to piss or get something to eat, folks fucking, and other kinds of intrusive behavior.

What the hell kind of theaters are you going to?

The couple of times I've gone to a move since 2019 (not counting Christmas special airings) it's been pretty damn empty. I don't know how they stay in business. 

It would seem with everything getting so expensive that lowering ticket prices to make taking a family of 4+ cheaper than doing anything else would bring in the masses. Then you make more on the concessions. But that's uneducated speculation as I don't have any experience in the movie business 

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hornian

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43 minutes ago, Texzilla58 said:



We don’t go anymore because the experience sucks. It’s not the price. I would pay for a theater experience with great seats but isolated from […] folks fucking, and other kinds of intrusive behavior.

You usually have to pay extra for those seats. 

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ChickenSandwich

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28 minutes ago, Hermanator said:

What the hell kind of theaters are you going to?

The couple of times I've gone to a move since 2019 (not counting Christmas special airings) it's been pretty damn empty. I don't know how they stay in business. 

It would seem with everything getting so expensive that lowering ticket prices to make taking a family of 4+ cheaper than doing anything else would bring in the masses. Then you make more on the concessions. But that's uneducated speculation as I don't have any experience in the movie business 

Its not like there were lines and sold out shows when dollar theaters were a thing. 

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Hermanator

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4 minutes ago, ChickenSandwich said:

Its not like there were lines and sold out shows when dollar theaters were a thing. 

Dollar theaters were showing movies that had already been out for months and in many cases were already on home video. Plus many of them were in low income areas. 

If they lowered the prices down to say $6 a ticket and $8 for the "premium" seats in the middle/middle a family of 4 could go on $24 plus snacks. Way better than the $48+ it is now and cheaper than pretty much any other entertainment option for families. 

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Hermanator

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16 minutes ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

Movie crowds today seem much more respectful and enjoyable than before. Don't know if pricing the riff raff out or what, but just my personal experience.

Judging by the crowds at Cowboy games I don't think that's it. 

I think far fewer teens go to the movies with friends now than before. 

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Underdog

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2 hours ago, Texzilla58 said:

My wife and I used to go to the movies a lot, especially when we lived in Portland. I’ve been in the home theater business since the 90’s and have had kickass THX systems but we went for the experience.

We don’t go anymore because the experience sucks. It’s not the price. I would pay for a theater experience with great seats but isolated from couples bringing young kids to inappropriate movies, asswipes doing FaceTime on their phone, dumbasses talking to the screen, numbskulls in middle seats that have to get up eight times during to movie to piss or get something to eat, folks fucking, and other kinds of intrusive behavior.

Sorry for partying. 

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4th&Five

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1 hour ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

Movie crowds today seem much more respectful and enjoyable than before. Don't know if pricing the riff raff out or what, but just my personal experience.

Same but we stick to Alamo and Cinepolis. I’m guessing that makes a difference. 

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Texzilla58

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What the hell kind of theaters are you going to?
The couple of times I've gone to a move since 2019 (not counting Christmas special airings) it's been pretty damn empty. I don't know how they stay in business. 
It would seem with everything getting so expensive that lowering ticket prices to make taking a family of 4+ cheaper than doing anything else would bring in the masses. Then you make more on the concessions. But that's uneducated speculation as I don't have any experience in the movie business 

Like I said we don’t go to movies anymore with the exception of taking our young granddaughters to kids movies. I think we last went to a movie around 2014. It was another miserable experience with folks playing angry birds and doing FaceTime with their kids.
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3 hours ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

The new Cinemark seats that are soft plush leather recliners are awesome, only missing the AMC style seat heaters. 

Who the fuck needs seat heaters in an indoor theater?

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Js1

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My local Regal now has "VIP" theaters - they charge a premium for better seats in a smaller auditorium, free popcorn/soda/Icees, a bar and bathrooms that are close enough you can be gone and back in less than a minute.  And the refillable popcorn and soda/icee station is within the "VIP lobby" 

Granted, it was a $30 ticket for 3D Avatar 2 but by the time you include the price of a ticket + popcorn + a drink, you're hitting $30pp anyways. 

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