AMC Theaters Considers Charging More Money for Popular Tentpole Films
AMC used to be my movie theater of choice, but I stopped paying to see movies there a couple of years ago because it's just too damn expensive for tickets and concessions. On top of that, the moviegoing experience isn't really that great, and you don't even get reserved seating! These days it's cheaper for me to go to Arclight Cinemas, and they offer a much better moviegoing experience.
Now the movie theater chain is considering charging audiences even more money for popular tentpole films. The CFO of AMC Entertainment, Craig Ramsey, recently made some interesting comments picked up by THR during the MKM Partners Entertainment Leisure and Consumer Technology Conference. This is where he says they are looking at the prospects of variable prices:
They [Odeon & UCI] are further advanced in variable pricing, where tentpole movies are priced up on release. That’s something we’ve talked about in the U.S. We expect to learn a lot with what they’ve done. We think it will position us to start having those conversations about pricing opportunities in the U.S.
As a consumer, that just sounds like a stupid idea. I know AMC isn't a theater I really go see movies at these days, but this will make me never want to go see a movie at AMC theaters again. I'm not going to pay any more extra money to see a big tentpole film from Marvel, Disney, or DC. Hell no! It's already too expensive! Hopefully, the other movie theater chains don't follow in AMC's footsteps. It might benefit the other theaters more if they don't.
Back in 2013 Steven Spielberg and George Lucas predicted that this could happen. Spielberg said, “You’re gonna have to pay $25 for the next Iron Man, you’re probably only going to have to pay $7 to see Lincoln.” Lucas went on to predict:
"Going to the movies will cost 50 bucks or 100 or 150 bucks, like what Broadway costs today, or a football game. It’ll be an expensive thing. … (The movies) will sit in the theaters for a year, like a Broadway show does. That will be called the ‘movie’ business."
You can watch a video of them talking about it below. I hope this isn't the future of movies! But if AMC is actually going to take steps like this and implement these changes, it looks like maybe that's where the entertainment business is headed. What do you think? Would you pay the extra cash to see these big tentpole films?