This is an idea a commentor on the site gave about a year ago, and I thought I’d explore it a little bit. I’ve often complained on The Movie Blog about the price of going to see the movies these days… it’s just too damn expensive for most people to go to three or more movies a month (with a date and popcorn that would run you about $100).
The other day I was watching Wedding Crashers. I usually arrive a little early for no reason really. But as we approached show time, the theater was filling up pretty quickly. With still about 5 minutes to go, I saw a group of people walk in and realize they were going to have to sit in one of the front 2 rows. As you know, in most theaters the front couple of rows are HORRIBLE for watching a movie from.
Sitting up there, your neck bent back almost as far as it can go… and having to turn your head from left to right just to follow what’s happening on the screen. It sucks.
I felt bad for these people who walked in. after all… they paid just as much for a ticket as the person sitting just in front of me… but that person was going to enjoy the film a whole lot more because of where they were sitting.
That got me thinking a little again about the notion of different prices for different areas of seats. I don’t mean that each ticket would be for one specific seat (this ticket is for seat 5G). But designate a certain area of seats (bad seats) as discount seats (say… 25% cheaper than the regular seats).
Now, I know some people would abuse this. They’d buy the discount seats and then just go in and sit in the better seats. So only make the “Cheap Seats” available once 75% of the seats for a show have been sold. So if someone buys their tickets when there are tons of seats left… they have to buy the regular priced tickets. But… if someone shows up and most of the seats are already sold, they can buy the discounted tickets since they’ll have to sit in terrible seats.
I don’t know… I think it sound like a good idea. Your thoughts?
I am kind of on the fence on this one.
I mean, as it is, the price of movie tickets are outragous, nevermind adding to that price for ANYTHING! Not to mention, think about people who bring their children to the movies for a special treat,
and having to say,”oh i’m sorry sweety, but all we could afford were these here cheap seats because were not as well off as those people up there(pointing to the well off people)maybe next time…”
But on the other hand, what about the people who don’t have kids and just want to go see a movie? Should they be punished because they CAN afford the extra cash? Could go either way. Good idea though.
Any idea that involves the movie theatre reducing prices on tickets is never going to happen.
I’m from the US, but I’ve lived in Europe for 2 years and my favorite thing about going to movies is the reserved seats. In fact, the first time we went to the movie here, we showed up 15-20 minutes before the movie and no one was around. 10 minutes before . . nothing. 5 minutes . . . no-one. We were beginning to wonder if we had the time wrong or something. Everyone finally showed up in the last 5 minutes because the seats were already taken care of.
When I went to Star Wars III on opening night, I booked late and was told that the first 3 rows were all that was available. I made the decision to go anyway, but it was my choice. I wasn’t “stuck.”
You can even go on the web and reserve your seats ahead of time.
The US needs this system badly. I really don’t see the downside execept that the theatres would have to upgrade their ticketing systems.
Interesting idea. But shouldn’t also the sound be considered? In a theater with a surround system it depends if you sit somewhere in the middle of the cinema or on the last row, the extreme right or the extreme left, and basically it matters how close you are to a speaker. Because that’s the sound that you will hear louder and it will influence your movie experience. Of course this also depends on the design of the theater, but in the theaters from my city it really sucks to be near a speaker. And they are rather new and up-to-date theaters. Doesn’t anybody else care about the sound?
Anyway, I’m from Europe. I have certain theaters I prefer going to, based on the price of the tickets, the image and sound quality, distance from home etc. I usually reserve tickets in advance, in order to make sure I get the sits I want. Or I go early and buy them. They are annotated on the ticket, as somebody already mentioned. And concerning your idea – yeah, it would be fair for the people who get the front rows, but I wouldn’t sit there anyway, no matter the price of the ticket. There are people who like these sits, but I’m not one of them. It will definitely ruin the movie for me. I’d rather wait another day, or something like that, in order to purchase tickets for better sits.
So people who can afford it go and sit in the better seats, and people who can’t will sit with their face stick to the screen. I hate it. If people want to have good seats, it is their choice to come early or pick a date in weekdays where there is less traffic. A system like in the opera where you must pay for your comfort is anti-social and will keep even more people away, because now we will see who has money to pay for the good seats and who has not. It sounds stupid, but don’t forget, Cinema is for the masses.
As for the price being too high, IT IS for people who want to go on a regular basis. In this case, they should check for special prices with ‘movie-cards’ (like paying only 5 dollars/film if you go and see 5 films in a timespan of 2 months).
Preach on brother! Those seats suck! I do know people (like Martin Sutherland above) who like those seats though….weird.
I think there should definitly be a seating chart for movie theaters too.
Check out my other ideas that are so obvious. Why dont they exist?
http://www.moviepatron.com/main.html
-Drewbacca
-www.moviepatron.com
I’m Not sure How it was in old movie thearters or movie thearters in the city but i’m wondering how people paid for those thearters with dual levels, did people pay for certin seats or did they just pay for any seat…Anyone know what i’m talking about…it’s late and im tired i cant explaine myself.
They used to do this in Malaysia (where I’m from). You bought cinema tickets for a certain section. This was in the day when there were two tiers of seats. The upstairs tickets cost more, and the back section of downstairs were the cheapest seats. You also picked where your seats were going to be.
Why not have discounted tickets for crappy movies too? Regular price for Four Brothers (I may be wrong since I haven’t seen it), $5.00 for Dukes of Hazzard, and the theatre pays you $20.00 for going to see Deuce Bigalow.
But you are right about the abuse of such a system. That would make the people who paid regular price just a tad angry if they were to see these people playing musical chairs while trying to watch a movie. I can just see it, human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together – mass hysteria.
A little off topic here, but still concerning theatre etiquette. Have theatres ever installed (or even considered installing) headphone jacks? I don’t think theatres will have their own head phones because of theft, vandalism and maybe hygeine (just look at their floor). But it would be nice to bring in your own headphones to get rid of cell phones ringing, kids crying, and some yahoo talking about yesterdays episode of Jerry Springer.
I must be some kind of freak of nature, because I actually *prefer* the front row seats. Which is great, because there’s hardly any competition for them, and there’s more space to spread out. Bring on that differential pricing, woohoo!
a problem is ‘how do you define which seats a better?’ people like seats toward the back more than the middle rows. everyone hates the front seats but people do like the very back rows.
If they had theatre style seating I would go 15 min late to miss all the ads. If you want good seats you have to go early and watch the commercials. I would welcome the european style of theatre seating.
Maybe I should just move, Canada is a gulag. This is the straw that broke the camels back. Richard how big is your yard, I may buy a trailer. Do they have trailers in scotland?
I agree with removing the front seats altogether or give the screen a bit more tilt forward so the front seats are a little less hazardous.
I have to agree with Darth Balder in his suggestion to follow the “European” plan. When I visited both Hong Kong and Japan, movie seating worked the same way. It avoids so much hassle – buy your tickets a few hours before the movie, go do some shopping or grab some dinner, and then walk into your movie 3 min before it begins, confident that your seats have been reserved and are waiting for you.
Think about it: No more waiting 3 hours in long lines to get into a movie on opening night. As long as you’ve pre-purchased your ticket, you’re set. Come on North America! Catch up to the rest of the world!
Some of the newer theaters surrounding me have the fronts far enough back so that it’s not TOO bad sitting that close. I think older theaters should consider taking out a couple of rows because most people won’t sit them anyway and will usually ask for a refund. The theater I go to the most will tell you at the ticket window if a theater is nearly full, which gives me the option of either sitting up front or waiting for the next showing.
I also dont’t like the idea of special ticket pricing. First, I don’t think it would be any more profitable for the theaters, who might jack up the “better” seat prices.
It all sounds like more work than its really worth. If you want to see the movie and it’s opening weekend or is really popular get there early for your good seat.
I dont’ like the idea for discounted seating. The theatre chains will see this as an excuse to bump up the prices of the regular seating instead of lowering the prices of the crappy seats. A better idea would be to either remove the useless front seats or guarantee a refund if you don’t like the remaining seat selection.
Yeah, that would probably just cost the movie theater money. They wouldn’t get as much for those seats, plus they’d have to have workers police any “seat jumpers”. But as another poster stated, every theater I’ve been to will refund the cost of the seat if you get stuck up there. I’ve done it a few times when I haven’t shown up early enough.
My bigger gripe with theaters is the amount of commercials we have to sit through. I’m all for previews – show me 20 minues of previews and I’m okay with that. But when I *pay* $8 a ticket and $5 for a 2-liter Coke I’ll never be able to finish, I expect to be in an advertisement-free zone. The prices and the advertisements are the reasons they’ve lost me as a customer. I Netflix almost everything now.
If I recall correctly, the infamous EasyCinema chain in the UK already do this. They have various things related to prices of seats, including the time of the performance.
I agree with the other reply that one of the best improvements I’ve seen is annotated seating, where you know what seat you are going to get. Those who book early are pretty much guaranteed to get good seats, and you don’t have yet another queue to enter the theatre itself.
You are right. But here is another idea. Maybe the theaters should stop putting seats so close to the screen! They are worthless to sit in! They serve no purpose but profit.
You know if there aren’t seats to your liking youu can just go back the ticket booth and get a refund.. so you really don’t have to sit in the front.. just either wait for the next movie or leave
Hey there Darth,
I’m not talking about being “Late”. I’m talking about people, who show up on time with like 5 or 10 minutes to spare… who end up having their head tilted backwards for the evening.
But yeah… your point about specific seating has mertitt too.
Cheers!
Sorry, but I do not think that is a good idea. I wish theaters were more like theaters in Europe. In most of Europe, you choose which seat you want when you purchase your ticket, much like a Broadway play or seat on a plane. You then know that your seat is yours because it is annotated on your ticket stub. No questions asked. The earlier you buy a ticket, the better seat selection. This could also be done while purchasing tickets online.
As far as those arriving late and getting bad seats, tough. No sympathy here. Don’t be late! I wish theaters would close the doors or stop ticket sales once the movie has started. It is most annoying having to kindly stand to let late arrivals pass buy solely because they lack time management skills. Their tardiness is spoiling the movie for others that paid just as much to be there. If you want a good seat, arrive early. Or at least on time!
That would be interesting. I remember being late and having to sit up front. I hated it! Now if they would have given me a discount then I would have still hated it but at lest I paid less for sitting it the bad sits. I would even have excepted a free movie pass for the next time I come to their theater. Or even a rain check for the same movie at another time. You have 30 days to cash it in. There are other ways to deal with it. But your right if your late and all the good sits are taken there should be some form of deal to be made.
Donna A.