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Empty Screenings – Finds AMC movie screenings with few or no tickets sold

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Re: Empty Screenings – Finds AMC movie screenings with few or no tickets sold

#81

Post by bigstrat2003 »

wodenokoto wrote: post #22

I remember I went to a small showing once as a kid. It was just our group and 1 lady in the theater. We got to small talk and the lady mentioned she had once been the only customer for a showing and told the projectionist that she didn’t want to be a bother and could come back and another day. The projectionist had apparently replied that it was no bother - they would roll the movie even if no one showed up!

That must vary by theater, or perhaps practices change from time to time. My brother worked at a movie theater in high school (20 years ago), and the theater he worked would not play movies if nobody had bought a ticket. He told me they would occasionally catch people trying to sneak free movies that way - the projectionist would notice someone in the theater for a time which was going to be canceled, call the box office to confirm if they had sold a ticket, and if not they would get a manager to escort the person out.

Re: Empty Screenings – Finds AMC movie screenings with few or no tickets sold

#82

Post by nebula8804 »

jrumbut wrote: post #77
nebula8804 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't disagree with you at all. Ads suck. But that ship sailed a long time ago. Just to provide some more context to AMC. They are a US national chain and they don't run "commercials" just lots of trailers. They have recently announced that they have extended the trailer runtime from 20-25 mins to 35-40 mins. While this is frustrating they always indicate in the app which movies have the trailers (most do) and the…

It really seems like a great use case for dynamic pricing. For $27.99 I can usually get MLB tickets people are dumping last minute (face value starts a few dollars higher) and can always get AAA baseball tickets for less than that. That dynamism to the pricing helps a lot of people get into the door to those events and I'm sure it helps them milk additional profit out of very interesting games. I know you say it's th…

Well $27.99 is for IMAX/Dolby/other premium format. Thats the hook I guess. People do shell out but only for the big blockbuster. The other movies are like the stuff you can watch using your Netflix account so a lot of non franchise movies have shifted direct to Netflix.

This is partly explained by Matt Damon here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF6K2IxC9O8

>I know you say it's the studios setting the price. Why do they seem indifferent to the impending bankruptcy of theaters?

They are pushing their streaming platforms and using the content as just a hook for other more lucrative sources of revenue(ie. Disney and theme parks). Do they really need the theaters now that people are hooked on streaming?

Re: Empty Screenings – Finds AMC movie screenings with few or no tickets sold

#83

Post by stingraycharles »

WillPostForFood wrote: post #28
stingraycharles wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm old and have never pre-purchased a movie ticket in my life. I’m old and have always pre-purchased tickets, even in the 90s, as that’s the way to get better seats.

You sure about the 90s? Not saying it was impossible, but must have been extremely rare. Arclight was one of the first theaters to do assigned seats in 2002. AMC only started trialing in 2008, but didn't start rolling it out until 2016 in NYC.

Totally possible, was through a central phone number in The Netherlands called "BelBios" ("CallCinema"). You were guided through the different movies and showtimes, pressed the numbers, and got a booking code. You then went to the cinema, provided your booking code and paid.

Re: Empty Screenings – Finds AMC movie screenings with few or no tickets sold

#84

Post by bigstrat2003 »

nebula8804 wrote: post #67
snailmailman wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I want to enjoy the movie theater experience. It should be a better screen than the one in my home. It should be a better audio setup, with full surround sound. It should be great, a premium experience. The last few movies I’ve seen in theaters have not been that. Two of the last 3 movies I’ve seen had audio mixing problems, and dialogue was inaudible in some scenes. (I heard this got fixed later for one of the movie…

Sounds like you should be visiting Alamo Drafthouse. They take these things extremely seriously and are for the real fans. Here is their ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L3eeC2lJZs Unfortunately since they already filed for bankruptcy a few years back they have had to cut costs and so their system for ordering food replaced (from pen and paper collected and an usher quietly brings you your food to QR code with...…

Besides the ordering experience, I also feel like the food at the Alamo has gone downhill. It's not bad or anything, but it used to be legit good. Now it's just alright.

Re: Empty Screenings – Finds AMC movie screenings with few or no tickets sold

#85

Post by jojobas »

kleiba2 wrote: post #75

When I lived in Germany, I had an apartment in the vicinity of three tiny arthouse theaters. I used to go there all the time by myself because you could basically walk to all three of them. Saw a lot of movies I would have never seen otherwise, most of which I don't remember at all. The theaters were never full. So it was basically just like watching a movie in your own living room. Yeah, except maybe for the handful…

Pros: get to watch movies alone.

Cons: have to watch arthouse.

Re: Empty Screenings – Finds AMC movie screenings with few or no tickets sold

#86

Post by badgersnake »

cryptozeus wrote: post #60

May be I am in minority but I would hate to be alone in entire theater. I enjoy some vibe and people around

Are you American? US cinema culture seems very different to the UK (the only other place I’ve been). In the US it seems much more the norm to react to the film, in the UK generally folks sit in silence.

Re: Empty Screenings – Finds AMC movie screenings with few or no tickets sold

#87

Post by falsemyrmidon »

badgersnake wrote: post #86
cryptozeus wrote: post #60

May be I am in minority but I would hate to be alone in entire theater. I enjoy some vibe and people around

Are you American? US cinema culture seems very different to the UK (the only other place I’ve been). In the US it seems much more the norm to react to the film, in the UK generally folks sit in silence.

[dead]

Re: Empty Screenings – Finds AMC movie screenings with few or no tickets sold

#88

Post by jader201 »

cryptozeus wrote: post #60

May be I am in minority but I would hate to be alone in entire theater. I enjoy some vibe and people around

There are times I would agree with you, and times I wouldn't.

If the theater is full of people talking during the movie or lighting the place up while they’re on their phone (in either case ignoring the movie), then I’d rather be alone.

It seems like more times than not, this is the case.

Re: Empty Screenings – Finds AMC movie screenings with few or no tickets sold

#89

Post by sschueller »

caymanjim wrote: post #2

Do enough people buy tickets in advance now that this really indicates anything of value? I'm old and have never pre-purchased a movie ticket in my life. I assume a lot of people do, but the few times I've been to the movies lately, it seems people are buying tickets at the theater.

Last time I was in a US theater the tickets where not numbered and you could sit anywhere. There was no point in pre purchasing a ticket because if you wanted a good seat you needed to show up early either way.

In Switzerland the seats have always been numbered and even if the cinema is empty people wouldn't dare move into another seat. People do show up right before the film starts and try to avoid the ads. Some also hang in the lobby until the film actually starts.

Re: Empty Screenings – Finds AMC movie screenings with few or no tickets sold

#90

Post by menno-sh »

kleiba2 wrote: post #75

When I lived in Germany, I had an apartment in the vicinity of three tiny arthouse theaters. I used to go there all the time by myself because you could basically walk to all three of them. Saw a lot of movies I would have never seen otherwise, most of which I don't remember at all. The theaters were never full. So it was basically just like watching a movie in your own living room. Yeah, except maybe for the handful…

Here in Amsterdam (and the rest of the Netherlands) all the arthouse theaters have joined forces with the Cineville subscription [0], which gives you unlimited access for I think 25 euros a month. I get a subscription for a few months sometimes and you wind up seeing so many cool films

[0] https://cineville.nl

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