Any long time reader of The Movie Blog has seen me post more than once about the current insane economics ot the theatre business. Perhaps someone here in Ontario heard my rants.
Famous Players, the largest theatre chain in Canada, has just announced they’re dropping their criminally high ticket prices. Here’s what the Toronto Star had to say:
A new $9.95 adult price is being introduced across Ontario, down from the current $13.95 top price, to fight declining movie attendance caused primarily by the rise of DVDs and home theatres, and by a drop in repeat viewings by film buffs.
This is a positive step in the right direction… but don’t get too excited just yet. It’s also being heavily reported that this price drop is temporary upon further review. I’m glad to see they didn’t try to blame attendance drop on video piracy. Thanks to Shelley and Kurt for pointing this one out to me.
I don’t know what URL is.
However if this gets thru I object to the children & seniors not getting any price break.
We are now almost paying as much as a regular ticked for adults
Cineplex-Odeon Orion’s Gate has 10 theatres (actually on 3 are high quality)
But with its prices ranging from $9 – $4.99, I haven’t been to AMC or Famous Players in years… nor do I plan to go again regardless of its price slashes.
Geez! That’s how much it cost to watch a film over there? And how much does a large popcorn and Coke costs, or a bag of sweets?
I dont know if it has been mentioned before, but here in the UK you pay differently if you watch a film before 5 pm. Before 5 pm it costs £4.50-£5.50, but after 5 pm, weekdays and during weekends and bank holidays it costs from £5.90-£8.60! A large popcorn costs £3.95 and a large Coke £3.50. Thank goodness for unlimited movie cards!
Let’s compare ticket prices at the three major megaplex chains here in Quebec.
Famous Players
Was the most expensive and I agree they have too much of a loud themepark like atmosphere. They usually only show the major blockbusters and mainstream movies, no indie films.
Any showing: $9.95
AMC
The most expensive but in my mind, the best facilities. Nice and quiet. Shows a good mix of mainstream and indie movies.
Reg. price $13.00
Children (12-) $8.00
Students $10.00
Seniors (55+) $10.00
Matinée $10.00
Tuesdays $8.00
GUZZO
Doesn’t necessarily have all the blockbusters or indie films. While the others have better facilities, Guzzo seats and screen size are comparable. They more than make up for it with the best prices.
Reg. price $10.00
Children (12-) $6.00
Seniors (65+) $6.50
Matinée $7.00
Tue, Wed. $6.00
For some strange reason online it’s next to impossible to find movie tickets prices for Famous & AMC without wading through tons of pages.
Then there’s the recently opened Dollar Cinema in Montreal http://www.dollarcinema.ca which shows some mainstream movies that were released a few months ago for a $1. Obviously not a megaplex and they don’t show every movie but I just had to plug it here.
One could also blame not just DVDs themselves but rather how quickly they’re being released after their theatrical showings. I remember we used to have to wait a year or more now it’s merely months.
Just wanted to let you know that on Kinja, for some reason, clicking on this link takes me to an OLD post done in Sept. 2004 where you criticize the ticket pricing. Good post anyway. :->
This move doesn’t get much of a reaction from me as the Galaxy Cinemas in my area had been doing this since last year. I rarely ever attend the big chain ones anyway as we have a really good indie cinema here in Waterloo that, more often than not, airs the good mainstream flicks along with the indie/foreign stuff.
That translates to about $8 a ticket… which is still too much, compared to most theaters in the U.S.. (Ontarians were paying over $11 a ticket? Cripes!)
I’m still boycotting the Famous Players Chain for the Digital projector which shows TV commercials 20 minutes prior to screening, followed by another 10 minutes of celluliod commercials, WWE tie-ins and Famous Player Promos…When it takes over 10 minutes before even the TRAILERS start, that is a problem…
Add to that the themepark atmosphere which is cloying and the fast food chains outlets in their locations, and I can’t set foot in there…
Still, it is a smart and bold move to drop prices by $4 to get people into the theatre and hopefully buy more popcorn and soda, where the real money is made.
My hope is that this sets a trend, and the far superior chains (in terms of atmosphere in the multiplex) such as AMC and Cineplex-Odeon (in the Greater Toronto (Ontario, Canada) these are the better despite being grungier in other markets).. lower their prices to match.
(too many elipses!)
KuRt.