AMC, read the room and avoid ticket price changes
What movie theater companies did not figure out from social isolation
Update on June 13, 2023: AMC is offering tickets for just $3 plus tax on Wednesdays and $5 plus tax on Saturdays for their Summer Movie Camp!
Before “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” released, I’d have a hard time telling you what was the last movie I saw in theaters. COVID-19 made me completely turned off by going into movie theaters. I didn’t want to sit in the seats, risk sitting next to an anti-vaxxer, touch the countertops, buy the food, or even make contact with door handles.
DVERTISEMENT ~ Amazon
(As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn a percentage for every purchase with my referral links.)
I’d grown used to streaming movies from home. I even gave up on cable, bought two Roku devices and purchased a subscription to the streaming service Philo. When I wanted to see a movie, I’d purchase it via Amazon Prime, Peacock or re-join Netflix. The only person who seemed more comfortable at home than me was Trevor Noah (and his hoodies).
Recommended Read: “'MoviePass, MovieCrash' highlights forgotten black founders ~ Stacy Spikes and Hamet Watt MoviePass took a decade to create by 2011, but only two years for new leadership to kick the founders out and ruin the business”
For me, this was peculiar. Although I’m an antisocial extrovert, I am also someone who was adamant about going to movie theaters on a weekly basis during my college years and throughout my twenties. If a movie came out, I wanted to see it on the big screen. And when dollar shows were a thing, I was having the time of my life. Even in my thirties, I hung out at a nearby college theater that charged $5 for movies. I just about lived in movie theaters — with a whiskey sour in one hand and nachos in the other.
But just like I developed a habit of frequenting movie theaters as a film enthusiast, social isolation introduced me to another fun habit — streaming from the comfort of my own home for way less money, way cheaper food (if I didn’t sneak it in) and arguably more comfortable seats (minus the theaters with recliners). For two years, I rested.
When the “Black Panther” sequel came out though, I reevaluated. There was no way I was not going to support that film, especially considering it released on my birthday (Veteran’s Day). It was a given that that’s where I’d be planted to celebrate another year wiser. In addition to enjoying the first and second films, I also remembered why I liked movie theaters and considered going back into them.
Recommended Read: “'MoviePass, MovieCrash' highlights forgotten black founders ~ Stacy Spikes and Hamet Watt MoviePass took a decade to create by 2011, but only two years for new leadership to kick the founders out and ruin the business”
But now AMC is screwing everything up. In a recent CNN report, AMC, America’s largest movie chain, will be organizing its ticket prices based on seating location. This means seats closer to the screen will be cheaper while those seats further away will cost more. The ticket pricing initiative, called Sightline at AMC, will roll out at all of its roughly 1,000 movie theaters by the end of the year. And I’m left with one question: Why?