The price of middle seats at many US movie theaters has just been increased.
AMC Theatres, the nation’s largest movie theater chain, on Monday disclosed a new pricing scheme in which seat location determines how much your movie ticket costs. Seats in the middle of the auditorium will cost a dollar or two more, while seats in the front row will be slightly cheaper.
AMC said the pricing plan, dubbed “Sightline,” has already been rolled out in some locations and, by the end of the year, will be in place at all domestic AMC theaters during showings after 4 p.m.
Seats classified as “standard sightline” will be at the regular price. If you want to pay less for the “value sightline” seats, you have to be a member of the chain’s subscription service, AMC Stubs.
As movie theaters have attempted to recover from the pandemic, exhibitors have increasingly looked at more variable pricing methods. That’s included charging more for sought-after movies like “The Batman” in their first week of release.
Overall, movie tickets are getting more expensive, especially when factoring in large-format screens and 3D showings. The average 3D premium format ticket for the biggest box-office hit in recent years, “Avatar: The Way of Water,” was about $16.50.
