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Author Topic: Higher ticket prices on weekends? Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 02-09-2012 12:03 PM                        quote: Manny Knowles I've sat almost totally alone in theatres a lot in recent years. And it doesn't seem to matter if I'm in a "big city" like Los Angeles, or a small college town like Bloomington, IN. I think the reason for that is the huge emphasis placed on the opening weekend these days. They front-load the movies so much that nobody has trouble getting a seat in the early days, leading to near-empty auditoriums in the subsequent weeks.  |  IP: Logged Manny Knowles "What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???" Posts: 4247 From: Bloomington, IN, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 02-09-2012 12:12 PM                     Yes, I could agree with that. But it means that even though admission numbers have remained more-or-less stable, the cinemas do not benefit as much as they once did, due to the fact that most of the revenue is earned during the period in which the distributor earns the lion's share of box office receipts. ...or has that "sliding scale" been re-worked..?  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 02-09-2012 04:01 PM                        Well a lot of the studios now use this "sliding aggregate" scale where the rental percentage is based on how much the final gross is. I like it better, since we only play movies for two or three weeks max, it lowers the film rent for us. One of the few times a small place gets a break.  |  IP: Logged Edward Havens Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 614 From: Los Angeles, CA Registered: Mar 2008 posted 02-09-2012 05:10 PM                     I just noticed I typed 2011 instead of 2010 when I was talking about Avatar grosses. Sorry about that. If you notice the NATO admission numbers, you'll also notice theatrical admissions continued to grow in the 1980s and 1990s, even though more distractions were being thrown our way, with the Internet and more cable channels and more video gaming systems and cell phones. And they continued to grow well in to the early 2000s, topping off in 2002. Now, compare that to the video release window. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, one had to wait seven months or more for a movie to be released on home video. Even in 2000, the average release window for all major distributors was five months and sixteen days. But year by year, that window started shrinking, and as of 2010, the last full year of statistics, the release window was at four months and ten days. Here are the average release windows for the 2000s, according to NATO: 2000: 5 months 16 days 2001: 5 months 12 days 2002: 5 months 8 days 2003: 4 months 27 days 2004: 4 months 20 days 2005: 4 months 18 days 2006: 4 months 11 days 2007: 4 months 19 days 2008: 4 months 14 days 2009: 4 months 11 days 2010: 4 months 10 days Release window shrinks, movie theatre attendance shrinks. There's one your culprits, in simple black and white.  |  IP: Logged Chris Slycord Film God Posts: 2986 From: 청주시, 경북도, South Korea Registered: Mar 2007 posted 02-09-2012 07:36 PM                     quote: Edward Havens you'll also notice theatrical admissions continued to grow in the 1980s and 1990s, even though more distractions were being thrown our way, with the Internet and more cable channels and more video gaming systems and cell phones. And they continued to grow well in to the early 2000s, topping off in 2002. Even in 2000, the vast majority of consumers were using dial-up for access the Internet. Its influence on movie theaters at that time was pretty small, although larger in the absolutely most technologically advanced cities.  |  IP: Logged Michael Riley Film Handler Posts: 52 From: New Jersey Registered: Apr 2010 posted 02-10-2012 12:19 AM                  Just to add, Regal recently instituted a chain wide policy chain where matinee ends at 4PM. I know some NYC area locations don't do matinee on the weekends or holidays at all.  |  IP: Logged Chris Slycord Film God Posts: 2986 From: 청주시, 경북도, South Korea Registered: Mar 2007 posted 02-10-2012 01:10 AM                     That's more or less making them like AMC. AMC has, for many years, done it where the evening price kicks in at 4:00. But apparently when I worked there, I didn't notice that the corporate people still haven't figured out how matinee/evening works. It used to be that the pricing said that the adult ticket was for "After 4:00 pm" so people would periodically complain that 4 pm should be matinee (since apparently 4:00 isn't after 4:00). Well, now to fix that, they've changed the pricing to say that matinee is for "Before 3:55 pm" and "After 4:00 pm" with 3:55 and 4 pm shows in some sort of no-man's-land.  |  IP: Logged Maybelline Cabrera Film Handler Posts: 9 From: Saipan, MP, Northern Mariana Islands Registered: Sep 2007 posted 02-11-2012 10:46 PM                     Our theater started the different pricing for weekends a year or two ago, I think. I'm not sure if any of our other theaters are doing the same thing. But an adult ticket costs 50 cents more on Friday and Saturday evenings. Everything else retain their respective pricing throughout the week.  |  IP: Logged Manny Knowles "What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???" Posts: 4247 From: Bloomington, IN, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 02-12-2012 01:43 PM                     The AMC's here in Bloomington charge $5 for shows Monday-Thursday all day, and shows with start times before noon on Friday, Saturday & Sunday. Of course, their presentation quality is hit-or-miss -- especially the 35mm shows. Even so, I do find myself "going out" to see a movie more frequently here, compared to when I lived in Southern California. I guess, for me, what it amounts to is this: If I'm going to pay for an overpriced ticket in a major city, I'm going to expect perfection -- and I never EVER got that level of excellence anywhere in Los Angeles. As a moviegoer, I'm more tolerable of presentation flaws when I haven't overpaid. Do I see the flaws? Yes. Do I wish they weren't there? Yes. Do I want to take over the booth and fix things? Yes. Do I get so angry that I write letters of protest/complaint to the management? No. Can I still enjoy the movie? Yes. Is it because of the reasonable ticket price? Yes.  |  IP: Logged Ian Parfrey Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1049 From: Imbil Australia 26 deg 27' 42.66" S 152 deg 42' 23.40" E Registered: Feb 2009 posted 02-12-2012 02:29 PM                     “So if you want to get people to go out to the movies, to pay a premium price for some kind of premium experience, it better be damned premium. It better be extraordinary.” Doug Trumbull.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 02-12-2012 09:54 PM                        Here's a Carmike price list from one of their Montana plexes. I always thought we were being too complicated with four ticket prices, but maybe not: Ticket Pricing: Adult (Fri-Sat): $10.00 Adult (Sun-Thurs): $9.75 Senior (65-older): $6.50 Additional 3D Surcharge: $3.00 Matinee Mon-Thur: $7.00 BigD Matinee, Adult: $9.00 BigD Evening, Adult: $12.00 BigD Child: $9.25 Super Bargain (4-5:30pm): $5.50 Child (Fri-Sat Ages 3-11): $7.25 Child (Sun-Thurs Ages 3-11): $7.00 Matinee (Fri-Sat): $7.50  |  IP: Logged

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