AMC shares great news for people who love to sit all the way in the front of theater
By the end of the year, AMC plans to have tiered pricing nationwide
Aux News Pricing
Like everything else in this godforsaken capitalist hellscape, AMC Theatres are about to deploy a tiered ticketing system. That means if you want one of “the best” seats in the theater, you’re going to have to pay more for it. On the other end of the spectrum, if you don’t mind sitting close to the screen, it will save you just a little bit of money (we’ll get into the stipulations of that in a bit).
After test-running the premium pricing plan earlier in 2022 with The Batman screenings, the new system will kick off this Friday at AMC Theatre locations in New York, Chicago, and Kansas City, with the initiative in effect across the country by the end of the year.
The “Sightline” pricing system will break down theater seating into three sections. The first, called Standard Sightline, comprises the “most common” seats in a theater and will cost the standard price of a ticket. For those looking to arch their neck and look up at the screen from the front row, the Value Sightline will allow you to pay less for a ticket (this price also applies to “select” ADA seating). For the crème de la crème of theater seating, the Preferred Sightline section comes at a higher cost than the Standard Sightline.
But with the tiered ticketing prices come tiered access to the prices. Per Variety, the Value Sightline pricing will only be available to those with an AMC Stubs account. This all ties in with the tiered membership programs, which start at no cost for the basic membership and include two other paid options. For those who hold the elite status of an AMC Stubs A-List member, the seating in the Preferred Sightline Section will have no extra cost.
This is all really dumb and overly complicated but it seems as though those without any form of AMC membership will only be able to either: pay the standard ticket or pay more for a “preferred” seat. Those with the basic level of membership will be able to pay less but will still have to pay more for a “preferred seat.” A-list members can either pay less for a closer seat or pay the normal price for whatever seat they want.
When it comes to this ingenious plan, executive VP and CMO at AMC Theatres Eliot Hamlisch says: “Sightline at AMC more closely aligns AMC’s seat pricing approach to that of many other entertainment venues, offering experienced-based pricing and another way for moviegoers to find value at the movies. While every seat at AMC delivers an amazing moviegoing experience, we know there are some moviegoers who prioritize their specific seat and others who prioritize value moviegoing. Sightline at AMC accommodates both sentiments to help ensure that our guests have more control over their experience, so that every trip to an AMC is a great one.”
Oh, and the Sightline pricing only comes into play for showtimes after 4 p.m. Except if it’s a Tuesday, as the sanctity of Discount Tuesdays will remain intact at all AMC theaters, with all tickets for showtimes costing $5. So… yeah.
56 Comments
No, thank you.
They really nailed my favorite part of going to live concert events, the tiered pricing! This will surely get me to come back to the theaters./s
The last time I went to the Riot Fest, I found out that if I wanted to leave the park and come back, I should have paid for more expensive tickets lol. That was my first experience with rich people vs poor people tickets.
My favourite thing is the service charges that get tacked on.
and for an extra dollar, you can use the restroom
Don’t be silly, that’s what the cup is for after you finish your drink!
Talk about a free refill.
Naw, only a subset of the far right does that.
You don’t want to miss anything important
I prefer the front two rows in recliner-seat theaters, so… yay me!
I love the front row seats! Our local theater has reclining seats and foot rests for the front row so you can slouch like a puddle of meat. And being so close to the screen makes it a very immersive experience, especially for action movies.
We have a home theater-ish setup at home, so I can always watch a movie the normal eyes-straight-forward way later, but I can’t replicate that front row experience.
Starred for ‘slouch like a puddle of meat’.
Same; that’s sheer poetry, that is.
“(this price also applies to “select” ADA seating)“
And “ADA seating” is…
And that is why I go to my smaller, local theaters.
I’ve been unfortunate enough to see a movie from the front row and it was such an awful experience. Couldn’t make much sense of what was going on because of the angle and my neck was sore the entire time. 10/10 experience, would recommend.
I’ve returned my tickets every time I’ve walked into a movie to find out only the seats close to the screen were available.
It’s rare, but some theaters are actually set up so being in the front row doesn’t mean craning your neck or looking side-to-side, and it’s great. I used to be a middle-to-back-seater, but the fourth row at my local repertory fills my vision just perfectly.I do remember seeing Matrix Revolutions on opening night, hitting traffic, and spending two and a half hours neck craned, head wobbling this way and that as I tried to take anything in.
Yeah for me it totally depends on the size of the theater, the size of the screen (a lot of variety there),and how close to the screen the front row is also. Which, that varies a LOT. The only thing I genuinely don’t like is being too far from the screen, but there are some auditoriums where the back row is totally fine. And some where the front row is ridiculously close.
Fourth row is the tits
The funny thing is, in the same multiplex AMC can have one screen with a great front row and one screen without. It really depends on the auditorium. I’ve found myself sitting closer because it avoids being distracted when people in my sightline pull out their phones. Or have to get up.
If I’m being honest I’ve been “meh” on the theater experience for a while. Even if you find good seats, you need to deal with potentially obnoxious people around you ruining it. Then food and drinks are expensive, and of course you cant pause if you have to take a pee.I have a nice sized TV, I’d prefer to watch at home if I can.
If they were cutting the prices for the front row, that’d be one thing. But that sure as hell isn’t going to be what happens.
Being drunk helps.
Considering how many people put their TV above their fireplace, they might make more money by putting a higher price on the front rows.
Not nearly as entertaining as the article I previously finished reading: Man Accused Of Setting His Mom On Fire Choked To Death On Wet Toilet Paper
As long as there’s plenty of competition so that audiences can go to competing theaters to see the same movie if they don’t like how AMC does things….there’s plenty of competition, right?
I dunno man, I know I’m lucky and live in a more populous area, but I’ve seen more repertory screens pop up in my area; there’s an independent place downtown that serves dinners and cocktails and it’s exploded into a full-on chain in the surrounding suburbs. I think the overall market is shrinking, but it may move in the direction of music, where while streaming gutted physical media, vinyl sales have exploded.
They just closed one of my local theaters. I was never there at a packed house, but tickets were either: $8 for nighttime screenings, or $5 for matinee and all-day Tuesday. It was nice that it was so cheap, but with not *that* many people, it’s not hard to see why it couldn’t sustain itself.
The last discount movie house closed in my city about a year ago (after being closed during COVID and then reopening!), and I miss them a lot.
Idk, guess it depends where you are? I don’t even have an AMC theater around me- Cinemark and a chain called “Megaplex theaters” (now everyone can have a very idea of my location. I’m in the burbs, may be A singular AMC in the main city
Based on that alone I’m going to assume you have like 5 wives
4 sister wives, actually
Well, this brilliant action should have the streaming services shaking in their boots.
Worst AMC idea since the Pacer.
Surely this is the move that will bring people back to the cinema in droves!
I posted this on the Gizmodo article also, but Discount Tuesdays are no longer $5 at AMCs near me. They’ve gone up to $6.50 this month. So assuming this is also being trialed here, get ready for that to roll out nationwide this year too.
Tuesday’s are like $8 and change here. I don’t go to AMC, it isn’t convenient enough travel-wise and doesn’t offer a decent discount.
Modern movie theaters Steps to success:1) Do nothing to stop streaming services from destroying everything about your industry.2) Gouge Customers on pricing3) ???4) Profit
How profitable this will be depends a lot on how much MORE they charge for the middle ‘premium’ seats, and how much less for the crappy front row seats. Some people may not really even notice if its $2 more for Premium. Nor will people run to the front rows to save $2. It will have to be more like $5 off, is my guess. Also, I don’t like them making the back and side seats more competitive to get. That means planning even more ahead to get seats. Yay, MORE stress involved for everyone!!
The only AMC near me has been closed multiple times in the past few months for health code violations and has a godawful parking lot. They’re gonna need to apply that value pricing to all the seats to get me into that nightmare theater again.
“We’ve got to do something to stem our declining revenue problems! What if we triple-down on twenty-years of making the movie-going experience so viscerally unpleasant and expensive that we’ve produced a customer base with virtually no brand loyalty?”
We come to this place, for gouging.
We come to AMC Theaters to laugh, to cry, to pay a premium to avoid a neck injury.
Because we need that, all of us.
That indescribable feeling we get, when the nerves in our spine go numb,
And we go someplace we’ve never been before, like an ATM so we can afford to avoid the ER.
Dazzling images, on a huge silver screen I can’t see, sound that makes my ears bleed,
Somehow, having my wallet raped feels good in a place like this.
Our heroes shill for this without a hint of shame or self-awareness,
And morphine feels perfect and powerful.
Because here, we’re forced to put it in the popcorn to avoid a lawsuit.
AMC Theaters, we jack up prices, make you pay extra for seats, charge more for water than Coachella, force you to sit through up to 30 minutes of trailers after 20 minutes of commercials, then shove Nicole Kidman down your throat for the privilege, and have the unmitigated gall to say, “we make movies better.”And yet, given how often I see movies, my A-List is still somehow the best economic choice for my needs.
AMC is really easy to make fun of….BUUUUUT goddamn, the A-List is a friggin steal, esp. since I live right near the Metreon in SF where they have a true-blue IMAX screen and an ass-rumbling Dolby auditorium, so it’s very much been worth my money!
I have it too. But the part I don’t like about this is it will create a bigger demand for the ‘standard’ seats along the edge and the back (I’m assuming based on reports). Those are the seats I like and now I’ll have to be packed in shoulder to shoulder while the middle has empty seats because people will avoid the surcharges.Although — truth be told: I haven’t gone to a movie after 4pm since the last Bond movie came out. (And before that I think it was Black Widow.) So NONE of this will really affect me since I mostly only do matinees now to avoid those who think their covid cough is only a cold…
Is this going to affect the old-school theatres which still don’t have reserved seating? How will they determine the prices? Or is this news basically confirming that seat selection is coming to every cinema?
It’s pretty clear too many of you have gone back to the movie theaters.
Good luck enforcing “Sightline” seating in an empty theater, dickheads
I wondered about this. Like: Are they going to send ushers with penlights in during Nicole Kidman’s segment to check the tickets at those preferred seats? Tell me what minimum wage worker wants to do that and what supervisor wants to make sure those workers are doing their jobs…
“For those who hold the elite status of an AMC Stubs A-List member, the seating in the Preferred Sightline Section will have no extra cost.”Woo!
AMC shares expensive news for my brother who has macular degeneration and can only see the movie if he sits in the front row.
Oh fuck off. Cool. My living room it is.
This is unambiguously good; why should anyone have to pay full price for shitty seats. “Capitalist hellscape”, jesus christ this site
I’m an AMC Stubs Premiere member. I wonder how this will impact those with this membership.
I like to sit right in the middle of a theater. If my preferred seats go up in price, I will just stop going to the theater. Things pop up on streaming so quickly these days that theaters hold little attraction. I used to watch all the Marvel movies in the theater. Both Love and Thunder and Wakanda Forever I just waited to come to Disney+.