Cineplex to charge more for the best seats: 4 other ideas movie theatres should embrace

Want good seats for your night out at the movies? It’s first come, first serve, right? Not for long. If a new Cineplex pilot project succeeds, you can forget about arriving early or lining up. Canadian moviegoers may soon need to pay extra to get the best seats in the house.

This week, Canadian theatre chain Cineplex unveiled plans to start charging patrons $2 to $3 on top of their current regular admission prices ($11.99 CAD) to secure the coveted middle row seats. Similar to the more expensive UltraAVX and VIP options already offered, the pilot project will kick off later this year at Toronto’s Varsity cinema. Cineplex claims the new strategy is about offering their customers choice, though how exactly charging people more money for an already expensive night out is supposed to benefit consumers is a bit of a mystery.

The company has inexplicably compared the plan to tiered seating on airlines, where customers who want more leg room, better food, and amenities can pay a premium for business or first class seats, while those who can’t afford it are relegated to the dreaded coach seating. Basically, Cineplex is telling customers that if they’re unwilling to pay more for a movie ticket, they’ll be sitting in coach for their next movie night.

Put simply, it’s a move that has little to do with consumer choice and everything to do with maximizing profits. Despite consistently high revenues for exhibitors (must be those high ticket prices!), movie theatre attendance is down in Canada. Increased competition from television and streaming services like Netflix means that theatre chains have to come up with new and innovative ways to get people out to the cinema.

If movie theatres are really worried about flagging attendance, here are four better policies they should introduce:

Phone-free Screenings

Paying for priority seating means you’d still have to contend with inconsiderate moviegoers talk and text during a screening. The ringing, beeping, clicking, and bright lights of mobile phones are a huge distraction to other viewers, and despite frequent efforts by theatre owners to deter phone usage, it’s still a big problem.

So what about offering phone-free screenings? Though they would be difficult to enforce, many avid moviegoers would gladly pony up a few more dollars to be rid of the scourge of movie texters. Better yet, offer these screenings for regular admission prices.

Give all theatres stadium-style seating

There are still many theatres across Canada that have cinemas without modern stadium style seating (like Cineplex’s Varsity). Once the norm, these more gently-inclined cinemas can result in problematic viewing experiences if big hair, a hat, or extreme height come into play. Viewers can have a large portion of the screen obstructed by the person in front of them if they choose the wrong seat. How Cineplex can justify charging people more for the so-called best seats when an obstructed view is still possible is mind-boggling. Upgrade your theatres!

Quit trying to trick audiences with fake IMAX screens

If you’re looking for cinematic spectacle, nothing beats seeing a movie in IMAX. With its gigantic screens and ridiculously powerful sound, the large-format film is unequaled. But the IMAX brand has been cheapened in recent years, in part due to the huge success Hollywood movies like “The Dark Knight” have had with the format, by the emergence of Digital IMAX. This lesser digital projection system (regular IMAX uses enormous 70mm film) still costs as much as a normal IMAX screening, but is a pale imitation both in terms of screen size and sound. It’s still a superior movie experience when compared to a regular theatre, but quit trying to pull the wool over moviegoers’ eyes by calling it IMAX and charging the same exorbitant price.

Monthly membership = Unlimited Movies

International theatre chains like the U.K.’s Cineworld, offer monthly memberships that give their customers access to unlimited movies. For around 16£ (that’s about $30 CAD or basically the cost of two movie tickets) you get a card that allows you to see as many films as they want per month. It’s a great deal for cinephiles, and even a good deal for the average moviegoer looking to catch all the big summer movies.

Would you be willing to pay extra for a better seat? Or do some of these other ideas sound like more appealing options? Let us know in the comments.