Seeing “The Batman” This Weekend?

Get ready to pay slightly more than other moviegoers at the same location if you're headed to an AMC, the theater chain confirmed this week. As of this writing, an adult ticket to the superhero film in LA costs $1.50 more than a ticket to another movie at the same time and same venue.

🎥 Background: Variable pricing, aka charging more for tickets to movies with higher demand, has been discussed for years as a potential strategy to help boost the struggling exhibition business, but has consistently faced widespread resistance in North America per EW.

📉 Then, the pandemic hit… and theaters saw revenues drop significantly. AMC took a $4.6 billion hit in 2020.

• The theater chain has been experimenting with new initiatives to recoup some of that loss, including accepting bitcoin for movie tickets and selling AMC-branded popcorn at mall kiosks.
• It also made up some of the difference when AMC stock jumped 300% in January 2021, thanks to a group of enthusiastic Reddit users.

🍿 Zoom out: "This is all quite novel in the United States, but actually, AMC has been doing it for years in our European theaters," according to CEO Adam Aron. "In Europe, we charge a premium for the best seats in the house, as do just about all other sellers of tickets in other industries — think sports events, concerts, and live theater, for example."

+Flash poll: Would a >$2 price increase per ticket impact your decision to see a movie in theaters?

Yes

No