AMC Entertainment Holdings will increase the price of theatre tickets for the seats filmgoers covet most: the middle of the middle row.
The world’s largest theatre chain is experimenting with a tiered-pricing structure based on seat location called Sightline. The price of standard seats won’t change, while “value” seats — such as in the front row — will cost less than standard tickets. Preferred seats, including those in the middle rows, will cost more.
The initiative, which will only apply to movie screenings after 4pm, will be expanded to all AMC locations by the end of 2023, the company said on Monday. Members of the company’s A-list loyalty programme will have the premium fees waived.
With box-office sales still about a third below pre-pandemic levels, AMC CEO Adam Aron has shown a willingness to break from industry conventions. Movie theatre owners have long sold all their tickets for the same price, with some discounts for early shows and a customers’ age.
Last week, in a special promotion, AMC sold tickets to 80 for Brady, a comedy from Paramount Pictures about four octogenarian women attending the Super Bowl, for about half as much as other films playing in the same theatres at the same time. Paramount had provided research to theatre owners showing that seniors would be especially receptive to the discount pricing, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The film finished in second place domestically last weekend with $12.5m (about R220m) in tickets sold.
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