Film theaters have had a tricky go ever since their relevance was put into query at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. Since reopening worldwide, moviegoers have slowly been reminded of the magic that may solely be present in a theater. Nevertheless, sure theater chains like AMC have added some pointless quirks to the moviegoing expertise in the previous couple of years which have rubbed audiences the incorrect method. None have been as controversial as “sightline” pricing that charged you kind of relying on the place you sat. Now, after debuting the pricing mannequin in February, AMC is abandoning that seating method in favor of an up to date methodology.
The announcement was made on Thursday that AMC would finish their pilot program for the pricing mannequin. It will likely be changed with a brand new program that modifications the seats within the entrance row of every theater. The corporate stated in a press release, “Starting in late 2023, AMC will start testing its latest seating idea. Giant, comfy lounge type seating areas will permit visitors to put all the best way again and loosen up. The angle of the seats may even make it extra gratifying to observe films from these entrance row seats closest to the display screen.” They might end by saying the change was, “to make sure its ticket costs keep aggressive.” Though pricing for the brand new mannequin wasn’t introduced. It additionally feels like this is able to make every theater have fewer seats given the required house that may make this up to date entrance row a actuality. Some theaters are already sufficiently small as is.
AMC Pricing Backlash
Whereas AMC claimed they noticed no change in folks’s willingness to sit down within the entrance or center rows with the pricing modifications, that doesn’t negate the truth that sightline pricing was extraordinarily unpopular. At present, if you wish to watch a film within the entrance row you might be paying round $2 lower than you’ll wherever else in a theater. That sounds good if it weren’t for the truth that if you happen to wished to sit down in one of the best seats doable, normally within the center a part of the final three rows, you’ll be paying $2 greater than everybody else. Even if you happen to’re an AMC A-Record member who pays upwards of $25 a month for advantages, if you wish to go to the flicks with a pal and sit in one of the best seats it’s a must to pay the additional cash for that pal to sit down with you. That’s tousled even earlier than you get to the truth that going to the flicks is already costly sufficient. This pricing mannequin was seen as an elitist, class separation, tactic to the purpose the place celebrities publicly criticized the brand new pricing improve.
The Summer time Film Season Continues
With massive movies bombing on the field workplace this Summer time like The Flash and Indiana Jones, AMC hasn’t been serving to folks’s willingness to go to a theater. There’s nonetheless a ton of potential hits coming within the close to future like Barbie, Oppenheimer, Haunted Mansion, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. A wholesome field workplace and moviegoing expertise is barely going to assist extra films succeed. There’s no precise date for the brand new pricing mannequin, however for our wallets’ sake, late 2023 can’t get right here quickly sufficient.
