AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. will increase the price of theater tickets for the seats filmgoers covet most: The middle of the middle row.
(Bloomberg) — AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. will increase the price of theater tickets for the seats filmgoers covet most: The middle of the middle row.
The world’s largest theater 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 4 p.m., will be expanded to all AMC locations by the end of 2023, the company said in a statement Monday. Members of the company’s A-list loyalty program will have the premium fees waived.
With box-office sales still about a third below pre-pandemic levels, AMC Chief Executive Officer Adam Aron has shown a willingness to break from industry conventions. Movie theater owners have long sold all their tickets for the same price, with some discounts for early shows and a customers’ age.
Read more: Hollywood bets moviegoers are ready to return to theaters
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 theaters at the same time. Paramount had provided research to theater 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 $12.5 million in tickets sold.
(Updates with details about ‘80 for Brady’ in last two paragraphs.)
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