"Hey, we saved money by computerization, so we're gonna pass that cost onto you!"
"Don't you mean 'pass the savings onto us?'"
:D "Nope!"
Honestly they probably spend so much on devs to maintain their website that they don't break even lmao
The amount you'd save not hiring physical ticket sales workers would absolutely dwarf any amount of possible dev salaries for one website.
Lol in my local cinema I have to use a computer next to the ticket taker to print my ticket I bought online and then they physically look at it to tell me which theatre I should walk to, it’s like Idiocracy’s costco
What you don't find paying extra money convenient?
It's a convenient way for them to rip you off
Don't forget about the service fees, the inconvenience fees, then more convenience feed to undo those and another round of inconvenience fees and then more convenience fees to undo those
... and on top of that you have to watch like ten minutes' worth of ads at the beginning. Ugh.
I quit going to movies when they started blaring loud obnoxious commercials under the guise of "entertainment" prior to the movies supposed start time. Going to a movie used to be a social thing you did with friends, but now with them blasting that shit at you at a volume that makes talking impossible what the fuck is even the point? The fact that ticket prices are climbing to this level with this kind of jack assery is ludicrous. And don't get me started on the 20-30 minutes of previews they show after a movies supposed start time. Just fuck this shit.
So you haven't been to a movie theater in, like, 20 years? Because none of that is new.
Ads are fairly new, like the car commercial kind of ads. Before you'd show up early to watch the trailers. No one would show up early to watch ads.
First time I remember going to see a movie was about 20 years ago. There might've been a movie preview or two; I don't remember ads. Both "trailers" and ads have gotten progressively worse over the years - almost to the point that you'd think they alone fund the movie and the theatre - but you still pay a ridiculous ticket price.
Adverts have been on at the cinema for as long as I remember although they might have been for products sold at the cinema.
Edit: although your point of both previews and ads getting progressively worse is still very correct.
That's the thing that bugs me so much. Most movies have around 10 minutes of ads. That is ample time to promote some of the lesser known movies that company has made but instead we get ads for insurance companies pretending that they are green, banks gaslighting you into thinking they care about you, McDonalds trying to trick you into their food I synonymous with a happy family and Matt Damon pushing cryto currency on you. I would rather watch an ad for a good movie.
i don't mind true previews, but seeing standard TV ad garbage in a theatre that loud legitimately pissed me off last few times I went. swear they got louder. i also age incrementally, unceasingly, which doesn't help
lol what? you go to the movies to watch the movie… if you want to talk you can do it afterwards. also, it’s not like the ads take time off the actual movie
You're paying $20 to watch a series of giant, unmutable, unskippable and loud ads. It's like going to a restaurant and the waiter reminds you to stop by the car dealership on the way home to experience the thrill of the new Chevy Equinox. Get ready for a journey that combines style, performance, and endless possibilities.
Question from an European: What is that convenience fee? Which costs does it cover?
Nothing, it's just an extra charge so that the company can make more money.
Nothing for the customer. It's just convenient for the theater to charge more for the ticket.
Answer from another: nothing. We also have them in various places, like parking, or highway vignettes - you are not using their facilities, you save them money, so they charge you some extra
In the early days of the internet in the US the convenience fee was what the 3rd part sales software charged for online transactions but I think now with the it mostly being first party sales or integrated to the vendors POS it's just a way to charge more money without advertising it on the sticker price.
See, if you didn't pay that fee, then buying the tickets would be "inconvenient."
Jokes aside, it's really just a way to pad profits. It should be called the "We want more of your money" fee.
I'm paying added convenience fees left and right, but I'm not feeling the added convenience. Please send help.
I think the "convenience" is referring to using a credit card. They charge businesses any time their card is used. This is the business passing that cost on to the consumer.
We go to AMC quite a bit and I think it's actually the fee for buying tickets online or through the app. So probably even worse than passing CC fees on to customers lol. Always buy our tickets in person for that reason (and matinees).
Adding to this for more context, in America, credit card fees on merchants are like 3-5% of the transaction. That’s why some places have started to pass them to consumers, especially in low-margin businesses like restaurants and movie theaters. If your margins are around 5% and Visa is taking 3.95%, that’s not super sustainable. Card network fees tend to be much lower in Europe. I’m not sure about elsewhere.
Thing is...usually the "convenience fee" isn't there if you pay in person. It's usually done in online sales. It actually costs less for you to use their online portal because they don't have to staff more employees in house. But for some reason companies like to charge you extra for buying online and put it as a "convenience fee" instead of going inside to pay. You could theorize that it has something to do with credit cards, but then why don't they charge you for paying by a credit card in store?
And you have to create an account (with 2FA) to buy the tickets. In specifically inconvenient.
And the fee stacks too which is insane.
I saw Indiana Jones today it had 25 minutes of trailers, an admonishment to not ruin the movie, Nicole Kidman telling me how great going to the movies is, and a commercial for the projector. So a movie listed to start at 11 started at 11:28. it’s fucking ridiculous.
I find that pretty consistent for AMC. What ever the listed time is the film will play after 30min of trailers/promos. Its annoying but easy to plan around.
I watched the new spiderverse. I liked the Dolby Atmos/HDR demo as I hadn't seen them before, but they'll need to shorten them a little bit going forward
The first Dolby movie I saw Thor Ragnarok, and they ran that same damn ad for the projector then, so that’s like 5 and half years. But I do prefer the Dolby to imax, or at least the bullshit imax they run in amc theaters.
The hell is a “convenience fee”?
That's when you pay extra because money is yucky
Usually charged when you use a credit card online. Because “fees”. At least that’s what I’ve seen.
Came here to ask the same thing. Whatever it is you expect it to be included in the ticket price already when they are this high
What the fuck? A convenience fee??? They're just making shit up at this point
AMC has this fee for choosing your seat and booking online ahead of time. It's a dumb fee that they waive for spending $15/yr on a stubs membership.
I honestly just paid the $15 because it annoyingly makes things "cheaper"
You don't need to pay for the stubs membership. Just sign up for the basic stubs which is free and the fee is waived. They get your email and can send you marketing materials but that's easy to unsubscribe.
I gave up on theaters a long time ago. I wanna watch a movie in my PJs, smoke pot, and pause it when I need to. Plus I get lots of kitty snuggles during the viewing as well.
If you're stoned enough, a big screen and decent sound system is just as engrossing as a movie theater.
I was so stoned the first time I smoked hash, I kept falling asleep to Inception in theater. The score would jolt me awake and I had no clue what the hell happened in that movie.
I went back and watched it sober a few days later with another friend. After that, I had no clue what happened in that movie...
Kitty snuggles are priceless too. Win win.
That sounds very convenient, how much is the convenience fee?
About a bag of cat food per month
Nothing beats sitting on my own couch in my bathrobe with one kitty on my lap and another snuggled up to me at my side. Don't have to go out of the house, snacks are cheap. You'd have to pay me money to go to a theater, and a hefty amount at that.
I work at a pretty high end movie theater. All seats are recliners with tables, there's a full wet bar and restaurant quality food, and we do events and shit too. Tickets typically run $10-$15. This is ridiculous.
What area of the world if you don't mind answering? I used to love going to the cinema but its been too pricey for the past decade here.
I live in Vancouver and we have theatres similar to that here
$10 - $15? in BC? I can't get a lunch for under $20 anytime I was there, wonder why movies are the cheap thing still? Is this for a old cinema place?
Where? I'd love to go to one if you don't mind sharing.
Convenience fee? What does that even mean?!
Convenience of driving to the cinema with kids and dealing with their shenanigans, then finally getting in the cinema where they sit and watch the film for 2 hours without disturbing you. You are paying for that convenience.
For the convenience of the sticky floors and seats so you don't slide down the stairs - it's a safety meausure
Convenience fee for the convenience of making that shit right up
It's very contradictory as it's pretty inconvenient
This is why you should support any surviving local theaters that aren't chains. Monopolies aren't created solely by the companies but with the help of the consumers too
I think you're going to the wrong place. That or the US is just insane.
I think I'd pay about £8 (approx $10.11) per ticket here in the UK. That is without buying food.
Before the pandemic, the US wasn't too bad. Large cities got expensive, but most places a movie ticket ran around $10.
Now, to make up for lost money, some chains are trying to charge extra for getting "a good seat" or other perks that used to be just part of the price of the ticket.
I think they overestimate demand. I haven't been to a movie since 2019. I don't think I'm missing out. Home TVs are just so big now.
It's crazy these days, it makes no sense to go pay $20+ each to see a movie when I can wait a month and stream it on an 80 inch OLED at my buddy's place if it doesn't break any records at the box office. Color quality is better, couch is more comfortable and I don't have to worry about anyone dragging their screaming kids in.
Seems like the whole world became a lot more expensive after the pandemic. Same here in Germany and my family in Brazil tells no different story.
Especially all kinds of recreational activities, day or night. I for myself can't afford many things i used to do before the pandemic.
AMC is a huge multiplex chain, they seem to own about half of all theatres in the US, as a result they can overcharge to their heart's content because they might be the only one in town with the movie you want to see. They also attempt to pass their service off as a "premium" experience. In reality it just means larger seats. For this they've destroyed the movie-going experience. Not much love lost on my end, however, I'm not really a movie person. It mostly sucks when my child really wants to see something.
We went for the first time in years a couple of weeks ago. Cost us £14.50 each only on the tickets. Just a regular Odeon.
You can still find more reasonably priced tickets. We go to a second-run theater that only charges like $8 a ticket for movies that have just left the main corporate theaters and even Regal offers discount days where ticket prices are more reasonable.
I almost never go to the theater but I just checked and here in the Netherlands it's €13,50 for 2D and €16,50 for imax. That's crazy. The last time I went to see a movie in the theater was somewhere at the end of 2019, and it was like €10. That's a 30% price increase in under 4 years, christ.
Find a new theater, you're being robbed.
An exterminator told me that a lot of cinemas have issues with bedbugs. Since then, I haven’t been able to set foot in one.
That's horrifying to think about
What the heck is a convenience fee?
A convenient way to charge you for more
But you can avoid our unreasonable fee by signing up for a monthly subscription!
$15/year is pretty reasonable for the perks for AMC. Most theater chains are trying to charge monthly for membership which is outrageous
Are there perks aside from just avoiding their extra fees? I remember last time I was at AMC they added a charge on at the snacks when I said I wasn't a member
Have to hit the matinees. I take my son to a nearby movie theatre that has a full bar/menu and the tickets for he and I to go are around or under $20 for both of us. It's like $9.25 per person.
Yeah also a lot of places near me have $5 or $6 dollar Tuesday or whatever other special throughout the week
Don’t forget another $20-$30 for popcorn and drinks!
That's why you take your own snacks or just do without. Tickets are very rarely these prices.
There was a movie theater when I was a kid in the 80s and you could see movies that had already stopped being shown in the regular theaters for a while for $1. So, like, if you missed Return of the Jedi or Temple of Doom in its original run, you could catch it later on the big screen for $1.
We had that here too. Tuesday and Wednesday was $1 for a ticket, $1 for a popcorn and $1 for a drink.
Yup, second run theaters are (were?) awesome. Saw so many classic movies like Temple of Doom and Total Recall at my local one.
We had one of those in the 2010s here in Texas, although it might have raised to $2
We still have that in MA. And independent theaters with unique programming.
JESUS FUCK. I can pay $20 a month for UNLIMITED movies.
For real. With just a short wait, I can spend less, own the movie permanently, and watch it without wearing pants. Wins all around.
Once the lights are out, no one can see you aren't wearing pants 😏
Yes we can. Please stop doing that in the theater.
Well, on the plus side, if I keep doing it at least no one will sit near me.
That's ridiculous. I can get recliner seats with tons of arm room and reserved seating for $15 CDN. $12 for a matinee showing.
Every day I realize what a good investment is was to build a screen into my unused basement room.
(picture simulated)
That looks amazing! Did you put in a cool sound system, too, yet?
Yes and no. I have a Velodyne 15HGS sub that is hidden in the corner to the right (got that baby in a mass buy in '01, still going strong), and picked up a 7 speaker Velodyne satellite-style surround set on clearance for this room (edit: orig installation was in ~2007). It's not amazing, per se (it's no M&K, that's for sure), but the effect in my small-ish room (15'x15'x7.5') along with the LFE from the sub is enveloping.
You should find some small local cinemas. Sure screen is smaller, but so is the price and the atmosphere is great.
I'd rather buy some kind of AAA game.
I would settle for an AA game. I drink too much.
I use AMC movie pass. It’s amazing.
I use Regal’s subscription service cause Regal is what I have near me. It’s pretty good but I much prefer A-List. Regardless, $20/month and I can see as many movies as I want. If not for that there’s no way I’d be going to the theater for anything.
Yes, I have AMC's A-list and I only need to go for 2 movies (or 1 IMAX) a month for it be better value than paying for every individual ticket. One ticket is $16 and the A list membership is $25 a month
Yes that’s what we have. So good!!
Yes that’s what we have. So good!!
Where the F*** are you paying so much. Even with Canuck-bucks that's like double what it costs here
I like all the jokes about the fee. I’d say the price before that isn’t convenient either.
Holy shit that's outrageous. Me, 2 other adults and 1 kid all saw Spider-Verse 2 at the fanciest theater I know the other week.
It was like $7 a ticket. You're being robbed.
Across the Spiderverse for $7 is money well, well spent.
It was! Absolutely phenomenal movie. Shame to hear the rumors about the animators being under horrific crunch though.
If you live in a city, movies are needlessly expensive. AMC does half price tickets on Tuesdays, so if you can schedule around that you can go see a movie for what people used to be able to pay. A group of us try to see IMAX movies on Tuesdays for 'only' $12 a ticket.
Am I wrong about the city thing? Anyone in the burbs/more rural areas seeing prices like OP's?
I actually went to a theater a couple of days ago after not going to one for a couple of years and I was shocked at the price. I’d much rather wait until I can just watch it from the comfort of my own home.
Also not worth it when others are talking and using their phone in the theatre.
That convenience fee is damn annoying. I usually just try to get the tickets in person.
AMC has $5 Tuesdays. It's the only day I go to the movies.
Tickets at my local theater is still lik $8. Wtf do you live?
wow you guys are getting rinsed over there!
for a UK perspective, we have a cinema chain over here called Everyman, it's cinemas but every seat is a sofa/couch! and you can order food to the seats. unless it's a peak screening, you usually get a whole couch to yourself. matinée shows are roughly ~$17 for adult, ~$11 for child. what's pictured in the OP is no doubt one of those pull-down chairs with the itchy carpet material too. ouch!
Lol, hell no. Especially when the movie will be streaming in 3 months time. Haven’t been to a theater since Endgame.
You also call COVID “Endgame”?
Sorry, I should have been more clear. I meant the movie Avengers: Endgame.
Not only that, but then the prices of all the food inside is unreal. I just wait until discounted ticket days at my local theater if I really wanna go see somethin
How is it legal to make up a fee then offer a paid membership to avoid the fee you just made up? How is that different from the mob guys that would collect your "insurance" membership so that you didn't incur a "business burned down" fee?
"Free market" is neither free not cheap.
All of that kind of stuff is illegal and/or regulated in Europe. It's not perfect mind you, but it's trying to be better. Another good example are car rentals, they can offer you non-required add-ons but other than that, the price you see on the first screen is gonna be your final price.
Biden is trying to implement that in the US, guess who's trying to block it?
They made your wallet thinner so it's more comfortable to sit on
One of the biggest bullshit I have seen here in India is that airlines themselves will charge convenience fees for booking from their own website. Like it is not a third party website. It is their Fucking own website.
I'll conveniently save the fee by not watching movies in the theatre!
Imagine wanting some popcorn and candy to top it off... streaming from home is the way to go now and they did it to themselves.
It's a shame too, because there are some movies that just benefit from that large form factor viewing. I'd love to go see Oppenheimer on imax but I'll be damned if I have to spend 50 bucks to go watch it alone with some refreshments and snacks.
20$ a ticket whew plus the feel, this is almost as bad as doordash, like dang
I actually went to a theater a couple of days ago after not going to one for a couple of years and I was shocked at the price. I’d much rather wait until I can just watch it from the comfort of my own home.
Also not worth it when others are talking and using their phone in the theatre.
The problem is the opposite. People are still going to the cinema. If they didn't, cinemas wouldn't get away with this crap. They would either go away or knock it off.
Nah, it's not that it's gotten more expensive, it's that most of the films are shit or otherwise unsatisfying. Maybe a combination of the two? :)
Of the films I've seen at the cinema recently, the last one I remember really enjoying was Joker (which is not even recent), and the most recent one I mostly enjoyed, but then it had a shit cliffhanger ending instead of feeling like a complete film in its own right. I was literally saying to my friend before the film started that Dune pissed me off because of the absolutely shit ending, and then the same fucking thing happened. I don't go to the cinema and pay $15-20 for the ticket to come out feeling like I watched half a season of some Netflix show. I could have a month of Netflix for the same money, watch what I want at my own convenience and pause/rewind if I need the toilet or want to check something.
I still like going to the cinema, but I feel like the movies have got to be more varied, more surprising, and fucking end properly instead of teasing a second part in a fucking year. I would love it if they were more respecting of my time and didn't run on for three fucking hours too. I'd love more movies like Terminator 2 where there is zero fluff and the whole thing ends in 2 hours? That's what the cinema is for!
In the UK I feel like we've come out of a huge price hike. Things are relatively affordable now. Now though there's also more cinemas that offer a premium price for a more premium service - IMAX/Dolby Vision, big reclining seats etc that I happily pay more for.
There’s a coupon type app named Fever that does £4.99 tickets for Vue/Odeon etc. Been using it for years
Vue is cheap enough anyway where I've been, 4.99 or 5.99 for any ticket.
Thanks for that app recommendation! Just looked and seen some cool things in my area.
Lemmy is driving more value than Reddit has within a day of being in my life 👌
Really hoping my country doesn't follow suit to this. I can get a seat in a nice cinema with big seats that can become a bed with a push of the button for only 10 usd (which includes free popcorn!). Did you perhaps pay using a Credit Card? From my experience every time I buy stuff online like bus tickets which you usually buy at their booth, I have to pay extra for the "convenience".
For credit cards, companies sometimes charge a 2.xx% convenience fee because credit card companies take a 2.xx% cut, leaving them with only ~98% of what you paid them. But yeah, $6 convenience fee for a ~$55 purchase is absurd.
We go to a chain called Cinemark and the tickets are far cheaper than AMC. I think for 6 people on opening night with heated D-Box seats (the kind that move and shake and vibrate) directly in the middle of the theater cost me $100. Plus I have a membership so free tickets and no fees too.
If we went with regular seats we would have gotten them at around $10 per person. Heated recliners all around.
I feel spoiled honestly.
Same. I pay 9.99 a month for the club and that gets me a free ticket every month. I get a sizeable discount on food with that too. When a blockbuster film comes out, I have enough credits for the family, we pick our seats and everything in the app, and just go. Full reclining seats in a really nice theater. I spend $120 bucks a year and as a family of 3, we can see whatever, whenever, 4 times a year.
Oh yeah! Platinum member over here! 25% concessions is great!
We see a ton of movies all the time. I buy other people tickets and send the QR and they send me the cash because I save on fees.
My membership is so worth it.
That's a ripoff. I imagine that theater is a lot nicer than the one nearest to me but tickets are usually $12 for an adult and $6 for a child. But on Wednesdays all tickets are $6 regardless of age. They call it date night but you don't have to bring a date. You can even come alone. Or so I've been told ಥ_ಥ
The popcorn isn't even all that expensive either, but the drinks are. I think mostly because drinks are the easiest to sneak in.
Our local theater has huge heated leather seats, a fantastic sound system, and you can go to a matinée for $6 with popcorn included. I love Marcus Theaters, they do it right. Good food and drinks, too, delivered to your seat.
Here in Italy cinema is priced around 9-10 euros and carnets are often priced 5-6 euros per ticket.
What is a carnet?
undefined> carnet
Oh sorry! I was convinced carnet was also used in English! It is basically a set of usually five "coupons", they are basically free tickets that you can use for any movie within a year.
Similar to the Pathe cinemas I went to in Amsterdam.
That is one danger of (sometging close to) monopolisation, I just payed 24€ for 3 movie tickets at my local theater chain yesterday.
just paid $3.97 to watch a movie on my TV at home with friends. that is ridiculous pricing
Something tells me this was an imax or dolby theatre. In which case, of course the tickets are more expensive.
yep, i assume it was imax dolby.
I always was confused why Imax places built 20 years ago still have such a premium. Does the Imax light cost more? I get that the Imax movie data costs more but I can't see the rational for double the ticket price.
The equipment (projectors/sound system) is better/more expensive. The imax/Dolby theatres themselves are also sometimes higher quality than standard format theatres.
But how does a cost years ago (the better projectors/sound system) somehow mean the cost is higher today then when built? I remember paying maybe 15% more for Imax 15 years ago and now they are double. I get costing more but when normal tickets are $20 and Imax are $36 it seems they have lost their mind.
I pay $5 in india ig we are living in heaven when i see your pricing.
That's one of the benefits of being from a third world country. I am also from India and pay around $1.8 for a ticket.
The last time I went to a movie was whatever year Once Upon a Time in Hollywood came out. I honestly don't even know where or if a theater is located anymore.
I'm glad my daughter is an adult because we still had the second run dollar theaters when she was little. So... Many... Animated... Movies
I'm about to go completely devoid of simulation. I cut cable in 2009, just cancelled Netflix, will not renew Amazon Prime (there appears to be an all or nothing refund for cancelling mid-year and I'm in the morning category), just left Reddit, deleted Facebook years ago, never had Instagram, Twitter, tic-tac, or any other social media.
The only thing that's still worth anything to me is Spotify, and I won't be surprised if they pull some shitty shenanigans in the near future.
I think we last went to the movies about the same time. The last movie I was in the theater was the first Black Panther.
ItS ThE ExpERiEncE
They are falling for the same logical missteps that cable took. Losing customers = rate hikes. Pushing more away leading to more rate hikes. Instead they should be lowering costs and finding ways to encourage people to come back
I live near an Alamo Drafthouse in Colorado and never went to movies more since they started doing $7/ticket Tuesdays in like February which I believe was only meant to be limited time originally but SO MANY people kept coming and getting food/drinks/popcorn/etc they're still doing it.
It's very smart on their part that they may be losing money on the movie ticket but getting their staff paid more so it works out.
Yep, people like going to a show. It's a simple equation of cost vs reward. As the other response mentioned, movies just aren't worth 20 bucks plus 15 for food. They aren't good enough. For 7, I would totally go.
Don't forget the shitty product too. TV and movies are mind numbingly bad these days. Sure there's the occasional good/great show or movie, but the vast majority are just shit. Add that to everything else you pointed out and it's no wonder they're in trouble and keep hiking the fees.
Two things worth checking with your local theater: they may have cheaper viewings on Tuesdays, and look for any rewards program that will most likely waive your convenience fees on top of earning points. Points make your drink/concession purchases much more reasonable.
We SHOULDN'T have to do this, but until something better comes along, these are ok alternatives.
Imho something better did come along: streaming.
You also have to go to a good theater, because a lot of the time you go and the picture is too dim and out of focus, and the sound system isn't balanced properly. That will be $60 dollars.
As a producer who aims to make 2-10 million dollar genre flicks, I don't see why ticket prices shouldn't be scaled to budgets. Don't want to pay 25 bucks to see Avengers 16? Pay 10 to see a low to mid budget crime or horror flick instead.
To keep profits up, theaters should bring back double features, intermissions, and sell popcorn with THC butter. Snack sales will explode.
and sell popcorn with THC butter.
Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
Theatres were dying before covid. People can get a better experience from home for less money. This is one of those things covid helped speed the death of up. Just like distributed working for those who have jobs that can be done remote offers better productivity with lower costs to employers and workers. Those businesses that fail to adapt will be brought into the future kicking and screaming or just fail to adapt and die off.
You are incorrect that the future of entertainment is an endless, perpetual feed of on-demand home video. It is completely unsustainable. The streaming model peaked during the global quarantine and is now in freefall. You will never have as many people watching TV at the same time again. There was literally almost nothing else to do. The reason why David Zaslav is butchering the MAX catalog, Netflix is cracking down on password sharing, Disney+ and Hulu are set to merge, Paramount is on the verge of a total shutdown, Apple and Prime are canceling shows left and right, and Peacock is seeking a lifeline is because these services existed to thrive during a pandemic. The shutdowns are over and people are going outside again.
You are correct that the studios' major theatrical releases are flopping this summer and that multiplexes are suffering: The failure of Indiana Jones and The Flash are a testament to Hollywood's greed, bloat, and hubris. But spend some time in New York, LA, Portland, Chicago, and more and you will find dozens of repertory and revival theaters selling out classic movies every single night with enthusiastic crowds. People want affordability and quality. And they want to leave their homes and enjoy entertainment with their communities.
Why don't you all get togther and make a kickstarter for films, to go around the big corporate structure. Some sort of non-profit film studio that's devoted to creating creating great scripts and funding their production.
Crowdfunding has been great for small indie video games and products and historically awful for film. Remember the Veronica Mars movie on Kickstarter? They raised a shitload of money from fans and then sold it to WB. We haven't seen a high profile film crowdfunded since. WeFundr exists, but isn't particularly killing it.
To make a real movie with wide theatrical potential, you need people willing to put six and seven figures in. Investors in movies want equity and access. They want a piece of the potential profit, they want to visit sets, meet movie stars and directors, and come to premieres and festivals. They want to have a cameo in the movie or give their kid a job on set. They want to see their names on a screen. They want to give notes. They want to tell their friends they made a movie. They want to be a part of the show. It's my job to facilitate these investments while protecting my filmmakers from interference.
Well that explains why movies suck so much nowadays. Y'all need to fix that.
I remember when Tickets were 5-10$ at most not even that long ago, wtf happened
They still are. I have no idea what this price is from, tickets where I live at normal theaters are still under $10 at most
It’s most likely a 3D or IMAX movie. Could not see why else it is so expensive.
Just looked up a standard viewing of Indiana jones in NYC and it was $20.50
yeah, oppenheimer was like $20 for me just for a single adult. thought it was annoying but worth it
Go to matinee
$18 in Canada. Seems normal.
I'd pay more to see IMAX, but I think it's a lot more/too much.
Going to the cinema has become a luxury at this point, like (classical) theatre or opera. Which is not a bad thing per se, but the industry should stop complaining.
Last film I watched in the cinema was Dumb and Dumber in the early 90s...
(That's more to do with living rural and not really wanting to spent an hour each way travelling to be disappointed by distracting audiences)
Same time frame, Puss In Boots, and we were shocked at the price. Haven't been back in one since.
As a kid, going to the movies on the weekend was a regular event. Nowadays as a dad with a family, it's a luxury.
This must be imax or 3d.
Looks like a pretty standard Friday night ticket for NY or Chicago
I'm also not the biggest fan of the whole required reservations thing either. It makes spontaneous movie nights with friends a massive hassle. You have to have a designated ticket buyer now, or somehow perfectly coordinate your online buying times to ensure you get seats together.
I mean it’s objectively way better. Before seat reservations that would happen anyway for popular movies. My group had to be split up many times because we’d walk into an almost full theater.
I pretty much only go on Discount Tuesdays now. One of my local theaters also waves the "convenience" fee if you join their free rewards program. Helps me save a lot that way.
What's the deal with one word of your comment being replaced with 'removed' in italics?
Don't see that here. What is the context of the removed word?
For a family of 4 which includes 2 adults and 2 children, we’re looking at $100 for tickets and snacks easily. It’s crazy how expensive going to the movies have become. That said, I really like recliner seats + Dolby Atmos without having to worry about “getting the best seats”, so some of the hike is a little more digestible. Movie theater snacks though, now that’s highway robbery.
Have to hit the matinees. I take my son to a nearby movie theatre that has a full bar/menu and the tickets for he and I to go are around or under $20 for both of us. It's like $9.25 per person.
I'll conveniently save the fee by not watching movies in the theatre!
A subscription to save? Say it ain't so?!!!!! Assholes
It's expensive and at least here in Finland you have to watch 15 minutes of commercials despite paying for the ticket!
If you look at how the budget for a movie is spent, you'll realize that at least half of that money goes into marketing, ads and other annoyances. It's nuts.
Funny, inEU we are around 10/11 € per ticket
£6.99 here in London. That's it. No "convenience fee" either.
And £5.99 outside of London (if bought online and in "Super Saver" seats). Gawd Bless Vue.
My home town in Essex only had an odeon and it was more like £11 for a standard ticket. Rip off.
What are the super saver seats?
You pay based on the location of the seat in the screen. The cheaper super saver 5.99 seats are more near the front and if you want to further back you would have to pay 7.99
6.50€ in my country... Or maybe because I'm a student and my cinema is on a small town
Pricing for the large scale theatre chains in Canada is similarly brutal.
The only movies I go to now are at the local independent cinema. Cheaper per ticket, membership that gets you access to two free members-only mystery screenings a month, the building itself is fucking gorgeous and I swear they grease their popcorn machine with crack.
Went a long time pretty much swearing off theatres entirely, but COVID gave me a bit of a "You need to support nice things that you want to keep existing" shake, so I'm happy to toss them a couple of bucks for the experience once and a while.
Man. I stopped going to movies when they started showing ads before them. If I pay you, you don't get to double dip with advertising imo. To see this is ludicrous, and I hope they all fail.
I've never known the movies to not have ads before them and I was born in 1970. How old are you? lol
That's a humorous take, because I've known so many people who went to see crappy movies because of the movie previews for something they liked. This was way before the internet took over as a way to see videos, but still, interesting to note the opposite.
Previews are one thing. I remember the very first time I saw an ad being shown in a movie. People BOOED.
And rightly so.
Now it's considered normal to advertise sugar water and so on....It's shameful.
I got a $10 ticket to see Asteroid City the other day and both my friend and I were like “wow that was really cheap!”
At that point its not even worth it for the 3d or big screen
And all that money spent just to sit in a room with many people looking at their bright phones, talking to eachother, chewing loudly and causing a mess.
No, thanks.
Where was that? I just went to the movies for the first time in years, and bought 5 adult "premium seating" tickets for CAD$91.80, taxes in.
$16.25 each
I don't know how much does popcorn etc costs in US theaters but here is India, in multiplexes, popcorn costs more than the price of a single ticket.
lol thankfully cinema chains aren't completely evil with the subscription services.. i'm likely going to sign up soon once summer is over.
That's crazy. I think I spent that much seeing Guardians of the Galaxy 3 but I went with my partner and we ordered food and alcohol to our seats. If we would've just done without I think it would been like 20 dollars for two adult tickets. Your theater seriously robbed you.
I won't pay that. Simple as that. That's a crazy total.
That's crazy! I just paid $18 for IMAX tickets to Oppenheimer. Regular screen is like $11 here.
AMC sucks, don't you have any other theaters around there to choose from? There is a theater near me that only charges $7 for normal tickets, and even cheaper for matinees. Then the AMC theater in my same town charges $12.50 for a ticket...plus that stupid convenience fee.
Went to an AMC theater recently after not going to one for years. I waited through about 30 minutes of forced ads before the movie started. The "shut off your cell phone warning" was about 10-15 min early. Guess I'm prepared to show up later than the advertised times in the future and skip it, but can't say I want to go back.
Holy fucking shit balls.
Yeah..nope
wtf, lol...I pay Regal like $22/mo for unlimited movies and discounts on snacks, which I actually end up using quite a bit.
You can do the same with AMC. Me and my wife pay like $25/month for 3 movies a week and it works for every AMC in the country. We go twice a month and I’m saving like $40
Same, I can't really go back to not having unlimited now, and I feel bad if I ever have to go to another theater
I got into Moviepass again because of this. They changed it from the last iteration to be points based. Around me a matinee is 10/20 and a normal time is 20/30 based on day of the week. They have deals certain days too where any movie is 7 points as well. I get the 34 credit plan for $10/mo and I get to go see 1 or 2 movies a month for less than 1 movie normally
Those prices are wild, but what the hell is a convenience fee? Is that just some bull that they've come up with to charge more?
Honestly that's why we joined Cinemarks club. You get a ticket a month, plus another one for $1.99, and then as many more as you like for $9.99. with no fees. And you get discounts on snacks and drinks.
I barely get change out of $100 for two people and food in "Austrortia" . That's with one large popcorn, a choc-top and two large sodas. Needless to say I don't go very often.
I, uh, heard that the theatres are doing good numbers this summer, actually. I wouldn't know, though. The last movie I went to was a Sunday matinee for a movie that every had seen already, so it was pratcually a private showing.
I think in the age of streaming saturation, going to movies still offer an experience for people vs watching Netflix on your couch. It should ultimately be something that's most of all, fun, and exciting.
Nobody should ever feel like they are getting ripped off for the money they paid, even if everything is getting more expensive, and having blatant tagged on fees, or request for tips for things that didn't use to ask for tips, just makes people feel bad that they got cheated out of their money. And that's not fun.
I dont bother with theaters anymore. It will come out on a streaming platform eventually, its worth the wait to pay less.
I used to like going to movies, when they were really well made and worth paying for a sticky theater seat and dealing with crowds.
Now movies are mostly crap, remakes or rehashed story universes and not really worth the hassle or the cost.
this is absolutely wild. where do you live? we go to the "emagine" theater chain and have been able to get the front row "cuddle seats" for 12$. it sits two of us to one loveseat. bring a friend/partner or have a giant seat to yourself. i think emagine is only in a few states tho (USA).
In Austria our biggest cinema company has discounts on every first Sunday of the month, where most of the tickets only cost 5€
Depends on the theatre. I went to a smaller one yesterday and spent 20 bucks for an adult and one child . Not too bad, considering.
Damn, I live in one of the most expensive cities in the US, and they don't charge that much here.
If you watch the matinee shows, it's much cheaper. And you sign up for the basic stubs marketing thing and the convenience fee is waived.
I just paid $45 for 2 adult, 2 kids tickets for Indiana Jones at AMC.
Pretty sure the chains here in Canada don't do matinee pricing anymore, nor a Cheap Tuesday. Just full price all the time.
I go to the movies at least once a week. This is one of the few cases where the subscription is where it's at. 25 dollars a month gets me three movies a week. I usually only see one but that nearly pays for itself the first week. It's great!
This reminds me... AMC wanted to test selling tickets at a higher cost based on seat location... corporate greed will keep folks at home.
Cheaper to wait for streaming or Blu Ray. Bonus for Blu Ray - you actually own something.
So convenient to go to another website, enter my info, PAY AGAIN, have to sign in every time for my discount...
They know they aren't fooling anyone this shit should be illegal and they're killing themselves not just streaming prices...
That’s insane, in the UK we have ODEON which is probably the most expensive cinema at £15ish a ticket and then we have others like VUE where it’s only £6.
Have to hit the matinees. I take my son to a nearby movie theatre that has a full bar/menu and the tickets for he and I to go are around or under $15 for both of us. $7.25 for me and I think $5 for him.
Holy moly.
I'm in a medium town with one theater and the same three tickets are about half that.
And it's not a second run theater either. Same premiers as the big chains, just fewer screens. And no upcharge for 3D.
You can get the A-List subscription or whatever they call it (basically AMC'e version of Movie Pass). Some friends and I do this and we all see a movie usually every Tuesday.
Movies are releasing into streaming at record pace these days too, so I skip the cinema altogether now. Used to be you'd wait half a year for a movie to go from theaters to video, now it's up on a streaming service the moment its theater run is finished.
The fuck is a convenience fee?
Like the name, they just charge whatever they feel convenient lol.
Same thing going on here in Finland. Movie tickets are often 20-25 € for "normal" movies, shit ton of ads to go through and rude customers scrolling Insta or talking through out the movie.
Holy shit, 20-25€ is fucking bonkers. I pay 11€ for a 2D screening in an amazing cinema in Germany (big city).
Yeah, it truly is. There are some local smaller and cheaper cinemas here and there, but they usually cant show new movies at all. They are rare, too. There are couple of big movie chains that dominate and effectively force an duopoly/triopoly with their prices.
We have some cinemas around here that offer an unlimited option. For a set monthly fee, you can go to the cinema as much as you want. Obviously you have to pay for all the extras (3D, popcorn and stuff). I have one and I go to the movies like 3 times a month on average.
Yeah AMC the one in the picture has a plan where you get 3 movies a week for like $25/month
Yeah AMC the one in the picture has a plan where you get 3 movies a week for like $25/month
Well clearly you're doing it wrong. You should have AMC STUBS PREMIERE ™️!!
For real, it would save you the cost of the service fee. Ya know, the fee for being serviced. Fuck theaters.
My local Orpheum is $9 for adult tickets and includes a drink and a regular popcorn. $11 gets you a ticket, large drink, and large popcorn. Drink refills are $1. Both theaters have recliners, couches, and Love seats at the back. They're awesome! Though you have to show up quite early if you want a comfy seat.
CONVENIENCE FEES HAHAHAHA
God what a scam that shit is
"Hey, we saved money by computerization, so we're gonna pass that cost onto you!"
"Don't you mean 'pass the savings onto us?'"
:D "Nope!"
Honestly they probably spend so much on devs to maintain their website that they don't break even lmao
The amount you'd save not hiring physical ticket sales workers would absolutely dwarf any amount of possible dev salaries for one website.
Lol in my local cinema I have to use a computer next to the ticket taker to print my ticket I bought online and then they physically look at it to tell me which theatre I should walk to, it’s like Idiocracy’s costco
What you don't find paying extra money convenient?
It's a convenient way for them to rip you off
Don't forget about the service fees, the inconvenience fees, then more convenience feed to undo those and another round of inconvenience fees and then more convenience fees to undo those
... and on top of that you have to watch like ten minutes' worth of ads at the beginning. Ugh.
I quit going to movies when they started blaring loud obnoxious commercials under the guise of "entertainment" prior to the movies supposed start time. Going to a movie used to be a social thing you did with friends, but now with them blasting that shit at you at a volume that makes talking impossible what the fuck is even the point? The fact that ticket prices are climbing to this level with this kind of jack assery is ludicrous. And don't get me started on the 20-30 minutes of previews they show after a movies supposed start time. Just fuck this shit.
So you haven't been to a movie theater in, like, 20 years? Because none of that is new.
Ads are fairly new, like the car commercial kind of ads. Before you'd show up early to watch the trailers. No one would show up early to watch ads.
First time I remember going to see a movie was about 20 years ago. There might've been a movie preview or two; I don't remember ads. Both "trailers" and ads have gotten progressively worse over the years - almost to the point that you'd think they alone fund the movie and the theatre - but you still pay a ridiculous ticket price.
Adverts have been on at the cinema for as long as I remember although they might have been for products sold at the cinema.
This is the oldest advert that I remember and it’s from 1986. https://youtu.be/rlyrlsf3EfA
Edit: although your point of both previews and ads getting progressively worse is still very correct.
That's the thing that bugs me so much. Most movies have around 10 minutes of ads. That is ample time to promote some of the lesser known movies that company has made but instead we get ads for insurance companies pretending that they are green, banks gaslighting you into thinking they care about you, McDonalds trying to trick you into their food I synonymous with a happy family and Matt Damon pushing cryto currency on you. I would rather watch an ad for a good movie.
i don't mind true previews, but seeing standard TV ad garbage in a theatre that loud legitimately pissed me off last few times I went. swear they got louder. i also age incrementally, unceasingly, which doesn't help
lol what? you go to the movies to watch the movie… if you want to talk you can do it afterwards. also, it’s not like the ads take time off the actual movie
You're paying $20 to watch a series of giant, unmutable, unskippable and loud ads. It's like going to a restaurant and the waiter reminds you to stop by the car dealership on the way home to experience the thrill of the new Chevy Equinox. Get ready for a journey that combines style, performance, and endless possibilities.
I timed it once a couple years ago. Was no shit 30 minutes of ads. That's why I don't stress about getting there on time very much anymore.
More like 20 to 30 minutes 🙄
Question from an European: What is that convenience fee? Which costs does it cover?
Nothing, it's just an extra charge so that the company can make more money.
Nothing for the customer. It's just convenient for the theater to charge more for the ticket.
Answer from another: nothing. We also have them in various places, like parking, or highway vignettes - you are not using their facilities, you save them money, so they charge you some extra
In the early days of the internet in the US the convenience fee was what the 3rd part sales software charged for online transactions but I think now with the it mostly being first party sales or integrated to the vendors POS it's just a way to charge more money without advertising it on the sticker price.
See, if you didn't pay that fee, then buying the tickets would be "inconvenient."
Jokes aside, it's really just a way to pad profits. It should be called the "We want more of your money" fee.
I'm paying added convenience fees left and right, but I'm not feeling the added convenience. Please send help.
I think the "convenience" is referring to using a credit card. They charge businesses any time their card is used. This is the business passing that cost on to the consumer.
We go to AMC quite a bit and I think it's actually the fee for buying tickets online or through the app. So probably even worse than passing CC fees on to customers lol. Always buy our tickets in person for that reason (and matinees).
Adding to this for more context, in America, credit card fees on merchants are like 3-5% of the transaction. That’s why some places have started to pass them to consumers, especially in low-margin businesses like restaurants and movie theaters. If your margins are around 5% and Visa is taking 3.95%, that’s not super sustainable. Card network fees tend to be much lower in Europe. I’m not sure about elsewhere.
Thing is...usually the "convenience fee" isn't there if you pay in person. It's usually done in online sales. It actually costs less for you to use their online portal because they don't have to staff more employees in house. But for some reason companies like to charge you extra for buying online and put it as a "convenience fee" instead of going inside to pay. You could theorize that it has something to do with credit cards, but then why don't they charge you for paying by a credit card in store?
And you have to create an account (with 2FA) to buy the tickets. In specifically inconvenient.
And the fee stacks too which is insane.
I saw Indiana Jones today it had 25 minutes of trailers, an admonishment to not ruin the movie, Nicole Kidman telling me how great going to the movies is, and a commercial for the projector. So a movie listed to start at 11 started at 11:28. it’s fucking ridiculous.
I find that pretty consistent for AMC. What ever the listed time is the film will play after 30min of trailers/promos. Its annoying but easy to plan around.
I watched the new spiderverse. I liked the Dolby Atmos/HDR demo as I hadn't seen them before, but they'll need to shorten them a little bit going forward
The first Dolby movie I saw Thor Ragnarok, and they ran that same damn ad for the projector then, so that’s like 5 and half years. But I do prefer the Dolby to imax, or at least the bullshit imax they run in amc theaters.
The hell is a “convenience fee”?
That's when you pay extra because money is yucky
Usually charged when you use a credit card online. Because “fees”. At least that’s what I’ve seen.
Came here to ask the same thing. Whatever it is you expect it to be included in the ticket price already when they are this high
What the fuck? A convenience fee??? They're just making shit up at this point
AMC has this fee for choosing your seat and booking online ahead of time. It's a dumb fee that they waive for spending $15/yr on a stubs membership.
I honestly just paid the $15 because it annoyingly makes things "cheaper"
You don't need to pay for the stubs membership. Just sign up for the basic stubs which is free and the fee is waived. They get your email and can send you marketing materials but that's easy to unsubscribe.
I gave up on theaters a long time ago. I wanna watch a movie in my PJs, smoke pot, and pause it when I need to. Plus I get lots of kitty snuggles during the viewing as well.
If you're stoned enough, a big screen and decent sound system is just as engrossing as a movie theater.
I was so stoned the first time I smoked hash, I kept falling asleep to Inception in theater. The score would jolt me awake and I had no clue what the hell happened in that movie.
I went back and watched it sober a few days later with another friend. After that, I had no clue what happened in that movie...
Kitty snuggles are priceless too. Win win.
That sounds very convenient, how much is the convenience fee?
About a bag of cat food per month
Nothing beats sitting on my own couch in my bathrobe with one kitty on my lap and another snuggled up to me at my side. Don't have to go out of the house, snacks are cheap. You'd have to pay me money to go to a theater, and a hefty amount at that.
I work at a pretty high end movie theater. All seats are recliners with tables, there's a full wet bar and restaurant quality food, and we do events and shit too. Tickets typically run $10-$15. This is ridiculous.
What area of the world if you don't mind answering? I used to love going to the cinema but its been too pricey for the past decade here.
I live in Vancouver and we have theatres similar to that here
$10 - $15? in BC? I can't get a lunch for under $20 anytime I was there, wonder why movies are the cheap thing still? Is this for a old cinema place?
Where? I'd love to go to one if you don't mind sharing.
Convenience fee? What does that even mean?!
Convenience of driving to the cinema with kids and dealing with their shenanigans, then finally getting in the cinema where they sit and watch the film for 2 hours without disturbing you. You are paying for that convenience.
For the convenience of the sticky floors and seats so you don't slide down the stairs - it's a safety meausure
Convenience fee for the convenience of making that shit right up
It's very contradictory as it's pretty inconvenient
This is why you should support any surviving local theaters that aren't chains. Monopolies aren't created solely by the companies but with the help of the consumers too
I think you're going to the wrong place. That or the US is just insane.
I think I'd pay about £8 (approx $10.11) per ticket here in the UK. That is without buying food.
Before the pandemic, the US wasn't too bad. Large cities got expensive, but most places a movie ticket ran around $10.
Now, to make up for lost money, some chains are trying to charge extra for getting "a good seat" or other perks that used to be just part of the price of the ticket.
I think they overestimate demand. I haven't been to a movie since 2019. I don't think I'm missing out. Home TVs are just so big now.
It's crazy these days, it makes no sense to go pay $20+ each to see a movie when I can wait a month and stream it on an 80 inch OLED at my buddy's place if it doesn't break any records at the box office. Color quality is better, couch is more comfortable and I don't have to worry about anyone dragging their screaming kids in.
Seems like the whole world became a lot more expensive after the pandemic. Same here in Germany and my family in Brazil tells no different story.
Especially all kinds of recreational activities, day or night. I for myself can't afford many things i used to do before the pandemic.
AMC is a huge multiplex chain, they seem to own about half of all theatres in the US, as a result they can overcharge to their heart's content because they might be the only one in town with the movie you want to see. They also attempt to pass their service off as a "premium" experience. In reality it just means larger seats. For this they've destroyed the movie-going experience. Not much love lost on my end, however, I'm not really a movie person. It mostly sucks when my child really wants to see something.
We went for the first time in years a couple of weeks ago. Cost us £14.50 each only on the tickets. Just a regular Odeon.
You can still find more reasonably priced tickets. We go to a second-run theater that only charges like $8 a ticket for movies that have just left the main corporate theaters and even Regal offers discount days where ticket prices are more reasonable.
I almost never go to the theater but I just checked and here in the Netherlands it's €13,50 for 2D and €16,50 for imax. That's crazy. The last time I went to see a movie in the theater was somewhere at the end of 2019, and it was like €10. That's a 30% price increase in under 4 years, christ.
Find a new theater, you're being robbed.
An exterminator told me that a lot of cinemas have issues with bedbugs. Since then, I haven’t been able to set foot in one.
That's horrifying to think about
What the heck is a convenience fee?
A convenient way to charge you for more
But you can avoid our unreasonable fee by signing up for a monthly subscription!
$15/year is pretty reasonable for the perks for AMC. Most theater chains are trying to charge monthly for membership which is outrageous
Are there perks aside from just avoiding their extra fees? I remember last time I was at AMC they added a charge on at the snacks when I said I wasn't a member
A convenient way to give the customer the finger.
Have to hit the matinees. I take my son to a nearby movie theatre that has a full bar/menu and the tickets for he and I to go are around or under $20 for both of us. It's like $9.25 per person.
Yeah also a lot of places near me have $5 or $6 dollar Tuesday or whatever other special throughout the week
Don’t forget another $20-$30 for popcorn and drinks!
That's why you take your own snacks or just do without. Tickets are very rarely these prices.
There was a movie theater when I was a kid in the 80s and you could see movies that had already stopped being shown in the regular theaters for a while for $1. So, like, if you missed Return of the Jedi or Temple of Doom in its original run, you could catch it later on the big screen for $1.
We had that here too. Tuesday and Wednesday was $1 for a ticket, $1 for a popcorn and $1 for a drink.
Yup, second run theaters are (were?) awesome. Saw so many classic movies like Temple of Doom and Total Recall at my local one.
We had one of those in the 2010s here in Texas, although it might have raised to $2
We still have that in MA. And independent theaters with unique programming.
JESUS FUCK. I can pay $20 a month for UNLIMITED movies.
For real. With just a short wait, I can spend less, own the movie permanently, and watch it without wearing pants. Wins all around.
Once the lights are out, no one can see you aren't wearing pants 😏
Yes we can. Please stop doing that in the theater.
Well, on the plus side, if I keep doing it at least no one will sit near me.
That's ridiculous. I can get recliner seats with tons of arm room and reserved seating for $15 CDN. $12 for a matinee showing.
Every day I realize what a good investment is was to build a screen into my unused basement room.
That looks amazing! Did you put in a cool sound system, too, yet?
Yes and no. I have a Velodyne 15HGS sub that is hidden in the corner to the right (got that baby in a mass buy in '01, still going strong), and picked up a 7 speaker Velodyne satellite-style surround set on clearance for this room (edit: orig installation was in ~2007). It's not amazing, per se (it's no M&K, that's for sure), but the effect in my small-ish room (15'x15'x7.5') along with the LFE from the sub is enveloping.
You should find some small local cinemas. Sure screen is smaller, but so is the price and the atmosphere is great.
I'd rather buy some kind of AAA game.
I would settle for an AA game. I drink too much.
I use AMC movie pass. It’s amazing.
I use Regal’s subscription service cause Regal is what I have near me. It’s pretty good but I much prefer A-List. Regardless, $20/month and I can see as many movies as I want. If not for that there’s no way I’d be going to the theater for anything.
Yes, I have AMC's A-list and I only need to go for 2 movies (or 1 IMAX) a month for it be better value than paying for every individual ticket. One ticket is $16 and the A list membership is $25 a month
Yes that’s what we have. So good!!
Yes that’s what we have. So good!!
Where the F*** are you paying so much. Even with Canuck-bucks that's like double what it costs here
I like all the jokes about the fee. I’d say the price before that isn’t convenient either.
Holy shit that's outrageous. Me, 2 other adults and 1 kid all saw Spider-Verse 2 at the fanciest theater I know the other week. It was like $7 a ticket. You're being robbed.
Across the Spiderverse for $7 is money well, well spent.
It was! Absolutely phenomenal movie. Shame to hear the rumors about the animators being under horrific crunch though.
If you live in a city, movies are needlessly expensive. AMC does half price tickets on Tuesdays, so if you can schedule around that you can go see a movie for what people used to be able to pay. A group of us try to see IMAX movies on Tuesdays for 'only' $12 a ticket.
Am I wrong about the city thing? Anyone in the burbs/more rural areas seeing prices like OP's?
I actually went to a theater a couple of days ago after not going to one for a couple of years and I was shocked at the price. I’d much rather wait until I can just watch it from the comfort of my own home.
Also not worth it when others are talking and using their phone in the theatre.
That convenience fee is damn annoying. I usually just try to get the tickets in person.
AMC has $5 Tuesdays. It's the only day I go to the movies.
Tickets at my local theater is still lik $8. Wtf do you live?
wow you guys are getting rinsed over there!
for a UK perspective, we have a cinema chain over here called Everyman, it's cinemas but every seat is a sofa/couch! and you can order food to the seats. unless it's a peak screening, you usually get a whole couch to yourself. matinée shows are roughly ~$17 for adult, ~$11 for child. what's pictured in the OP is no doubt one of those pull-down chairs with the itchy carpet material too. ouch!
Lol, hell no. Especially when the movie will be streaming in 3 months time. Haven’t been to a theater since Endgame.
You also call COVID “Endgame”?
Sorry, I should have been more clear. I meant the movie Avengers: Endgame.
Not only that, but then the prices of all the food inside is unreal. I just wait until discounted ticket days at my local theater if I really wanna go see somethin
How is it legal to make up a fee then offer a paid membership to avoid the fee you just made up? How is that different from the mob guys that would collect your "insurance" membership so that you didn't incur a "business burned down" fee?
"Free market" is neither free not cheap.
All of that kind of stuff is illegal and/or regulated in Europe. It's not perfect mind you, but it's trying to be better. Another good example are car rentals, they can offer you non-required add-ons but other than that, the price you see on the first screen is gonna be your final price.
Biden is trying to implement that in the US, guess who's trying to block it?
What "convenience" was experienced this visit?
They made your wallet thinner so it's more comfortable to sit on
One of the biggest bullshit I have seen here in India is that airlines themselves will charge convenience fees for booking from their own website. Like it is not a third party website. It is their Fucking own website.
I'll conveniently save the fee by not watching movies in the theatre!
Imagine wanting some popcorn and candy to top it off... streaming from home is the way to go now and they did it to themselves.
It's a shame too, because there are some movies that just benefit from that large form factor viewing. I'd love to go see Oppenheimer on imax but I'll be damned if I have to spend 50 bucks to go watch it alone with some refreshments and snacks.
20$ a ticket whew plus the feel, this is almost as bad as doordash, like dang
I actually went to a theater a couple of days ago after not going to one for a couple of years and I was shocked at the price. I’d much rather wait until I can just watch it from the comfort of my own home.
Also not worth it when others are talking and using their phone in the theatre.
The problem is the opposite. People are still going to the cinema. If they didn't, cinemas wouldn't get away with this crap. They would either go away or knock it off.
Nah, it's not that it's gotten more expensive, it's that most of the films are shit or otherwise unsatisfying. Maybe a combination of the two? :)
Of the films I've seen at the cinema recently, the last one I remember really enjoying was Joker (which is not even recent), and the most recent one I mostly enjoyed, but then it had a shit cliffhanger ending instead of feeling like a complete film in its own right. I was literally saying to my friend before the film started that Dune pissed me off because of the absolutely shit ending, and then the same fucking thing happened. I don't go to the cinema and pay $15-20 for the ticket to come out feeling like I watched half a season of some Netflix show. I could have a month of Netflix for the same money, watch what I want at my own convenience and pause/rewind if I need the toilet or want to check something.
I still like going to the cinema, but I feel like the movies have got to be more varied, more surprising, and fucking end properly instead of teasing a second part in a fucking year. I would love it if they were more respecting of my time and didn't run on for three fucking hours too. I'd love more movies like Terminator 2 where there is zero fluff and the whole thing ends in 2 hours? That's what the cinema is for!
In the UK I feel like we've come out of a huge price hike. Things are relatively affordable now. Now though there's also more cinemas that offer a premium price for a more premium service - IMAX/Dolby Vision, big reclining seats etc that I happily pay more for.
There’s a coupon type app named Fever that does £4.99 tickets for Vue/Odeon etc. Been using it for years
Vue is cheap enough anyway where I've been, 4.99 or 5.99 for any ticket.
Thanks for that app recommendation! Just looked and seen some cool things in my area.
Lemmy is driving more value than Reddit has within a day of being in my life 👌
Really hoping my country doesn't follow suit to this. I can get a seat in a nice cinema with big seats that can become a bed with a push of the button for only 10 usd (which includes free popcorn!). Did you perhaps pay using a Credit Card? From my experience every time I buy stuff online like bus tickets which you usually buy at their booth, I have to pay extra for the "convenience".
For credit cards, companies sometimes charge a 2.xx% convenience fee because credit card companies take a 2.xx% cut, leaving them with only ~98% of what you paid them. But yeah, $6 convenience fee for a ~$55 purchase is absurd.
We go to a chain called Cinemark and the tickets are far cheaper than AMC. I think for 6 people on opening night with heated D-Box seats (the kind that move and shake and vibrate) directly in the middle of the theater cost me $100. Plus I have a membership so free tickets and no fees too.
If we went with regular seats we would have gotten them at around $10 per person. Heated recliners all around.
I feel spoiled honestly.
Same. I pay 9.99 a month for the club and that gets me a free ticket every month. I get a sizeable discount on food with that too. When a blockbuster film comes out, I have enough credits for the family, we pick our seats and everything in the app, and just go. Full reclining seats in a really nice theater. I spend $120 bucks a year and as a family of 3, we can see whatever, whenever, 4 times a year.
Oh yeah! Platinum member over here! 25% concessions is great!
We see a ton of movies all the time. I buy other people tickets and send the QR and they send me the cash because I save on fees.
My membership is so worth it.
That's a ripoff. I imagine that theater is a lot nicer than the one nearest to me but tickets are usually $12 for an adult and $6 for a child. But on Wednesdays all tickets are $6 regardless of age. They call it date night but you don't have to bring a date. You can even come alone. Or so I've been told ಥ_ಥ
The popcorn isn't even all that expensive either, but the drinks are. I think mostly because drinks are the easiest to sneak in.
Our local theater has huge heated leather seats, a fantastic sound system, and you can go to a matinée for $6 with popcorn included. I love Marcus Theaters, they do it right. Good food and drinks, too, delivered to your seat.
Here in Italy cinema is priced around 9-10 euros and carnets are often priced 5-6 euros per ticket.
What is a carnet?
undefined> carnet
Oh sorry! I was convinced carnet was also used in English! It is basically a set of usually five "coupons", they are basically free tickets that you can use for any movie within a year.
Similar to the Pathe cinemas I went to in Amsterdam.
That is one danger of (sometging close to) monopolisation, I just payed 24€ for 3 movie tickets at my local theater chain yesterday.
just paid $3.97 to watch a movie on my TV at home with friends. that is ridiculous pricing
Something tells me this was an imax or dolby theatre. In which case, of course the tickets are more expensive.
yep, i assume it was imax dolby.
I always was confused why Imax places built 20 years ago still have such a premium. Does the Imax light cost more? I get that the Imax movie data costs more but I can't see the rational for double the ticket price.
The equipment (projectors/sound system) is better/more expensive. The imax/Dolby theatres themselves are also sometimes higher quality than standard format theatres.
But how does a cost years ago (the better projectors/sound system) somehow mean the cost is higher today then when built? I remember paying maybe 15% more for Imax 15 years ago and now they are double. I get costing more but when normal tickets are $20 and Imax are $36 it seems they have lost their mind.
I pay $5 in india ig we are living in heaven when i see your pricing.
That's one of the benefits of being from a third world country. I am also from India and pay around $1.8 for a ticket.
The last time I went to a movie was whatever year Once Upon a Time in Hollywood came out. I honestly don't even know where or if a theater is located anymore.
I'm glad my daughter is an adult because we still had the second run dollar theaters when she was little. So... Many... Animated... Movies
I'm about to go completely devoid of simulation. I cut cable in 2009, just cancelled Netflix, will not renew Amazon Prime (there appears to be an all or nothing refund for cancelling mid-year and I'm in the morning category), just left Reddit, deleted Facebook years ago, never had Instagram, Twitter, tic-tac, or any other social media.
The only thing that's still worth anything to me is Spotify, and I won't be surprised if they pull some shitty shenanigans in the near future.
I think we last went to the movies about the same time. The last movie I was in the theater was the first Black Panther.
ItS ThE ExpERiEncE
They are falling for the same logical missteps that cable took. Losing customers = rate hikes. Pushing more away leading to more rate hikes. Instead they should be lowering costs and finding ways to encourage people to come back
I live near an Alamo Drafthouse in Colorado and never went to movies more since they started doing $7/ticket Tuesdays in like February which I believe was only meant to be limited time originally but SO MANY people kept coming and getting food/drinks/popcorn/etc they're still doing it. It's very smart on their part that they may be losing money on the movie ticket but getting their staff paid more so it works out.
Yep, people like going to a show. It's a simple equation of cost vs reward. As the other response mentioned, movies just aren't worth 20 bucks plus 15 for food. They aren't good enough. For 7, I would totally go.
Don't forget the shitty product too. TV and movies are mind numbingly bad these days. Sure there's the occasional good/great show or movie, but the vast majority are just shit. Add that to everything else you pointed out and it's no wonder they're in trouble and keep hiking the fees.
Ya spot on. Such a waste of money for both.
Two things worth checking with your local theater: they may have cheaper viewings on Tuesdays, and look for any rewards program that will most likely waive your convenience fees on top of earning points. Points make your drink/concession purchases much more reasonable.
We SHOULDN'T have to do this, but until something better comes along, these are ok alternatives.
Imho something better did come along: streaming.
You also have to go to a good theater, because a lot of the time you go and the picture is too dim and out of focus, and the sound system isn't balanced properly. That will be $60 dollars.
As a producer who aims to make 2-10 million dollar genre flicks, I don't see why ticket prices shouldn't be scaled to budgets. Don't want to pay 25 bucks to see Avengers 16? Pay 10 to see a low to mid budget crime or horror flick instead.
To keep profits up, theaters should bring back double features, intermissions, and sell popcorn with THC butter. Snack sales will explode.
Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
Theatres were dying before covid. People can get a better experience from home for less money. This is one of those things covid helped speed the death of up. Just like distributed working for those who have jobs that can be done remote offers better productivity with lower costs to employers and workers. Those businesses that fail to adapt will be brought into the future kicking and screaming or just fail to adapt and die off.
You are incorrect that the future of entertainment is an endless, perpetual feed of on-demand home video. It is completely unsustainable. The streaming model peaked during the global quarantine and is now in freefall. You will never have as many people watching TV at the same time again. There was literally almost nothing else to do. The reason why David Zaslav is butchering the MAX catalog, Netflix is cracking down on password sharing, Disney+ and Hulu are set to merge, Paramount is on the verge of a total shutdown, Apple and Prime are canceling shows left and right, and Peacock is seeking a lifeline is because these services existed to thrive during a pandemic. The shutdowns are over and people are going outside again.
You are correct that the studios' major theatrical releases are flopping this summer and that multiplexes are suffering: The failure of Indiana Jones and The Flash are a testament to Hollywood's greed, bloat, and hubris. But spend some time in New York, LA, Portland, Chicago, and more and you will find dozens of repertory and revival theaters selling out classic movies every single night with enthusiastic crowds. People want affordability and quality. And they want to leave their homes and enjoy entertainment with their communities.
Why don't you all get togther and make a kickstarter for films, to go around the big corporate structure. Some sort of non-profit film studio that's devoted to creating creating great scripts and funding their production.
Crowdfunding has been great for small indie video games and products and historically awful for film. Remember the Veronica Mars movie on Kickstarter? They raised a shitload of money from fans and then sold it to WB. We haven't seen a high profile film crowdfunded since. WeFundr exists, but isn't particularly killing it.
To make a real movie with wide theatrical potential, you need people willing to put six and seven figures in. Investors in movies want equity and access. They want a piece of the potential profit, they want to visit sets, meet movie stars and directors, and come to premieres and festivals. They want to have a cameo in the movie or give their kid a job on set. They want to see their names on a screen. They want to give notes. They want to tell their friends they made a movie. They want to be a part of the show. It's my job to facilitate these investments while protecting my filmmakers from interference.
Well that explains why movies suck so much nowadays. Y'all need to fix that.
20$ is a joke.
I remember when Tickets were 5-10$ at most not even that long ago, wtf happened
They still are. I have no idea what this price is from, tickets where I live at normal theaters are still under $10 at most
It’s most likely a 3D or IMAX movie. Could not see why else it is so expensive.
Just looked up a standard viewing of Indiana jones in NYC and it was $20.50
yeah, oppenheimer was like $20 for me just for a single adult. thought it was annoying but worth it
Go to matinee
$18 in Canada. Seems normal.
I'd pay more to see IMAX, but I think it's a lot more/too much.
Going to the cinema has become a luxury at this point, like (classical) theatre or opera. Which is not a bad thing per se, but the industry should stop complaining.
Last film I watched in the cinema was Dumb and Dumber in the early 90s...
(That's more to do with living rural and not really wanting to spent an hour each way travelling to be disappointed by distracting audiences)
Same time frame, Puss In Boots, and we were shocked at the price. Haven't been back in one since.
As a kid, going to the movies on the weekend was a regular event. Nowadays as a dad with a family, it's a luxury.
This must be imax or 3d.
Looks like a pretty standard Friday night ticket for NY or Chicago
I'm also not the biggest fan of the whole required reservations thing either. It makes spontaneous movie nights with friends a massive hassle. You have to have a designated ticket buyer now, or somehow perfectly coordinate your online buying times to ensure you get seats together.
I mean it’s objectively way better. Before seat reservations that would happen anyway for popular movies. My group had to be split up many times because we’d walk into an almost full theater.
I pretty much only go on Discount Tuesdays now. One of my local theaters also waves the "convenience" fee if you join their free rewards program. Helps me save a lot that way.
What's the deal with one word of your comment being replaced with 'removed' in italics?
Don't see that here. What is the context of the removed word?
For a family of 4 which includes 2 adults and 2 children, we’re looking at $100 for tickets and snacks easily. It’s crazy how expensive going to the movies have become. That said, I really like recliner seats + Dolby Atmos without having to worry about “getting the best seats”, so some of the hike is a little more digestible. Movie theater snacks though, now that’s highway robbery.
Have to hit the matinees. I take my son to a nearby movie theatre that has a full bar/menu and the tickets for he and I to go are around or under $20 for both of us. It's like $9.25 per person.
I'll conveniently save the fee by not watching movies in the theatre!
A subscription to save? Say it ain't so?!!!!! Assholes
It's expensive and at least here in Finland you have to watch 15 minutes of commercials despite paying for the ticket!
If you look at how the budget for a movie is spent, you'll realize that at least half of that money goes into marketing, ads and other annoyances. It's nuts.
Funny, inEU we are around 10/11 € per ticket
£6.99 here in London. That's it. No "convenience fee" either.
And £5.99 outside of London (if bought online and in "Super Saver" seats). Gawd Bless Vue.
My home town in Essex only had an odeon and it was more like £11 for a standard ticket. Rip off.
What are the super saver seats?
You pay based on the location of the seat in the screen. The cheaper super saver 5.99 seats are more near the front and if you want to further back you would have to pay 7.99
6.50€ in my country... Or maybe because I'm a student and my cinema is on a small town
Pricing for the large scale theatre chains in Canada is similarly brutal.
The only movies I go to now are at the local independent cinema. Cheaper per ticket, membership that gets you access to two free members-only mystery screenings a month, the building itself is fucking gorgeous and I swear they grease their popcorn machine with crack.
Went a long time pretty much swearing off theatres entirely, but COVID gave me a bit of a "You need to support nice things that you want to keep existing" shake, so I'm happy to toss them a couple of bucks for the experience once and a while.
Man. I stopped going to movies when they started showing ads before them. If I pay you, you don't get to double dip with advertising imo. To see this is ludicrous, and I hope they all fail.
I've never known the movies to not have ads before them and I was born in 1970. How old are you? lol
That's a humorous take, because I've known so many people who went to see crappy movies because of the movie previews for something they liked. This was way before the internet took over as a way to see videos, but still, interesting to note the opposite.
Previews are one thing. I remember the very first time I saw an ad being shown in a movie. People BOOED.
And rightly so.
Now it's considered normal to advertise sugar water and so on....It's shameful.
I got a $10 ticket to see Asteroid City the other day and both my friend and I were like “wow that was really cheap!”
At that point its not even worth it for the 3d or big screen
And all that money spent just to sit in a room with many people looking at their bright phones, talking to eachother, chewing loudly and causing a mess.
No, thanks.
Where was that? I just went to the movies for the first time in years, and bought 5 adult "premium seating" tickets for CAD$91.80, taxes in.
$16.25 each
I don't know how much does popcorn etc costs in US theaters but here is India, in multiplexes, popcorn costs more than the price of a single ticket.
lol thankfully cinema chains aren't completely evil with the subscription services.. i'm likely going to sign up soon once summer is over.
That's crazy. I think I spent that much seeing Guardians of the Galaxy 3 but I went with my partner and we ordered food and alcohol to our seats. If we would've just done without I think it would been like 20 dollars for two adult tickets. Your theater seriously robbed you.
I won't pay that. Simple as that. That's a crazy total.
That's crazy! I just paid $18 for IMAX tickets to Oppenheimer. Regular screen is like $11 here.
AMC sucks, don't you have any other theaters around there to choose from? There is a theater near me that only charges $7 for normal tickets, and even cheaper for matinees. Then the AMC theater in my same town charges $12.50 for a ticket...plus that stupid convenience fee.
Went to an AMC theater recently after not going to one for years. I waited through about 30 minutes of forced ads before the movie started. The "shut off your cell phone warning" was about 10-15 min early. Guess I'm prepared to show up later than the advertised times in the future and skip it, but can't say I want to go back.
Holy fucking shit balls.
Yeah..nope
wtf, lol...I pay Regal like $22/mo for unlimited movies and discounts on snacks, which I actually end up using quite a bit.
You can do the same with AMC. Me and my wife pay like $25/month for 3 movies a week and it works for every AMC in the country. We go twice a month and I’m saving like $40
Same, I can't really go back to not having unlimited now, and I feel bad if I ever have to go to another theater
I got into Moviepass again because of this. They changed it from the last iteration to be points based. Around me a matinee is 10/20 and a normal time is 20/30 based on day of the week. They have deals certain days too where any movie is 7 points as well. I get the 34 credit plan for $10/mo and I get to go see 1 or 2 movies a month for less than 1 movie normally
Those prices are wild, but what the hell is a convenience fee? Is that just some bull that they've come up with to charge more?
Honestly that's why we joined Cinemarks club. You get a ticket a month, plus another one for $1.99, and then as many more as you like for $9.99. with no fees. And you get discounts on snacks and drinks.
I barely get change out of $100 for two people and food in "Austrortia" . That's with one large popcorn, a choc-top and two large sodas. Needless to say I don't go very often.
I, uh, heard that the theatres are doing good numbers this summer, actually. I wouldn't know, though. The last movie I went to was a Sunday matinee for a movie that every had seen already, so it was pratcually a private showing.
I think in the age of streaming saturation, going to movies still offer an experience for people vs watching Netflix on your couch. It should ultimately be something that's most of all, fun, and exciting.
Nobody should ever feel like they are getting ripped off for the money they paid, even if everything is getting more expensive, and having blatant tagged on fees, or request for tips for things that didn't use to ask for tips, just makes people feel bad that they got cheated out of their money. And that's not fun.
I dont bother with theaters anymore. It will come out on a streaming platform eventually, its worth the wait to pay less.
I used to like going to movies, when they were really well made and worth paying for a sticky theater seat and dealing with crowds.
Now movies are mostly crap, remakes or rehashed story universes and not really worth the hassle or the cost.
this is absolutely wild. where do you live? we go to the "emagine" theater chain and have been able to get the front row "cuddle seats" for 12$. it sits two of us to one loveseat. bring a friend/partner or have a giant seat to yourself. i think emagine is only in a few states tho (USA).
In Austria our biggest cinema company has discounts on every first Sunday of the month, where most of the tickets only cost 5€
Depends on the theatre. I went to a smaller one yesterday and spent 20 bucks for an adult and one child . Not too bad, considering.
Damn, I live in one of the most expensive cities in the US, and they don't charge that much here.
If you watch the matinee shows, it's much cheaper. And you sign up for the basic stubs marketing thing and the convenience fee is waived.
I just paid $45 for 2 adult, 2 kids tickets for Indiana Jones at AMC.
Pretty sure the chains here in Canada don't do matinee pricing anymore, nor a Cheap Tuesday. Just full price all the time.
I go to the movies at least once a week. This is one of the few cases where the subscription is where it's at. 25 dollars a month gets me three movies a week. I usually only see one but that nearly pays for itself the first week. It's great!
This reminds me... AMC wanted to test selling tickets at a higher cost based on seat location... corporate greed will keep folks at home.
Cheaper to wait for streaming or Blu Ray. Bonus for Blu Ray - you actually own something.
So convenient to go to another website, enter my info, PAY AGAIN, have to sign in every time for my discount...
They know they aren't fooling anyone this shit should be illegal and they're killing themselves not just streaming prices...
That’s insane, in the UK we have ODEON which is probably the most expensive cinema at £15ish a ticket and then we have others like VUE where it’s only £6.
Have to hit the matinees. I take my son to a nearby movie theatre that has a full bar/menu and the tickets for he and I to go are around or under $15 for both of us. $7.25 for me and I think $5 for him.
Holy moly.
I'm in a medium town with one theater and the same three tickets are about half that.
And it's not a second run theater either. Same premiers as the big chains, just fewer screens. And no upcharge for 3D.
You can get the A-List subscription or whatever they call it (basically AMC'e version of Movie Pass). Some friends and I do this and we all see a movie usually every Tuesday.
Movies are releasing into streaming at record pace these days too, so I skip the cinema altogether now. Used to be you'd wait half a year for a movie to go from theaters to video, now it's up on a streaming service the moment its theater run is finished.
The fuck is a convenience fee?
Like the name, they just charge whatever they feel convenient lol.
Same thing going on here in Finland. Movie tickets are often 20-25 € for "normal" movies, shit ton of ads to go through and rude customers scrolling Insta or talking through out the movie.
Holy shit, 20-25€ is fucking bonkers. I pay 11€ for a 2D screening in an amazing cinema in Germany (big city).
Yeah, it truly is. There are some local smaller and cheaper cinemas here and there, but they usually cant show new movies at all. They are rare, too. There are couple of big movie chains that dominate and effectively force an duopoly/triopoly with their prices.
We have some cinemas around here that offer an unlimited option. For a set monthly fee, you can go to the cinema as much as you want. Obviously you have to pay for all the extras (3D, popcorn and stuff). I have one and I go to the movies like 3 times a month on average.
Yeah AMC the one in the picture has a plan where you get 3 movies a week for like $25/month
Yeah AMC the one in the picture has a plan where you get 3 movies a week for like $25/month
Well clearly you're doing it wrong. You should have AMC STUBS PREMIERE ™️!!
For real, it would save you the cost of the service fee. Ya know, the fee for being serviced. Fuck theaters.
My local Orpheum is $9 for adult tickets and includes a drink and a regular popcorn. $11 gets you a ticket, large drink, and large popcorn. Drink refills are $1. Both theaters have recliners, couches, and Love seats at the back. They're awesome! Though you have to show up quite early if you want a comfy seat.