EXCLUSIVE: After AMC CEO Adam Aron announced on a recent teleconference that he had raised ticket prices specifically for The Batman, some studio executives and producers were outraged.
It’s a bold move at a time when the film industry is in desperate need of recovery from a financially disastrous pandemic that has seen theaters close for perhaps a year.
However, there are many opinions on the subject, ranging from Aron’s “nothing burger” claim to directors and producers considering a new caste system for classifying films is around the corner, i.e. unless you’re a director of the Marvel Cinematic Universe or DC title, then you are Ed Wood, and most have no reason to buy a ticket to see your movie.
Let’s all calm down.
Sony
First, AMC’s price hike (I’m told it’s true – not variable, not dynamic) on the Batman is nothing new. In fact, Regal and Cinemark already raised prices during the opening weekend of Spider-Man: No Way Home (see chart from box office analytics firm EntTellgence below), and they did it again for The Batman. Note that major studios have nothing to do with which exhibitors charge for movie tickets.
And if you’re thinking, “Well, uh, because of high ticket prices, people didn’t get to see Batman this weekend,” the answer is a resounding “No.”
Batman, at $128 million, is the second best pandemic opening behind Spider-Man: No Way Home at $260 million (the film is already #3 in domestic box office history and is approaching $800 million in the US and Canada) .
EntTelligence reports that 20 million people in the US watched Spider-Man: No Way Home on its opening weekend, compared to 9.5 million for Batman. The box office disparity comes down to two different types of intellectual property and their demand, not price: one is a reboot of the popular dark superhero, and the other is a carnival at the crossroads of the Marvel Cinematic Multiverse. Batman is also 25 minutes longer than Spider-Man, which may mean more running time than the nearly 3-hour Matt Reeves who directed Batman.
Ent Intelligence
As you can see, Regal Cinema #2 charged an average of $13.73 during the opening of Spider-Man, above their average ticket price of $12.91. Cinemark charged an average of $11.19 per film directed by Jon Watts, up from $10.63, while AMC charged an average of $13.92 that weekend against the regular ticket price of $13.21. The average ticket price for The Batman this weekend was $14.50 on AMC (vs. $13.22 on a regular ticket), Regal was $13.44 (vs. $12.67) and Cinemark was $11.25. dollars (versus $10.25).
Now, breaking it down:
AP
We are in an inflationary economy. And I can think of more nefarious surcharges going on right now, like four sandwiches in Mike’s Jersey totaling $70, refilling your gas tank north of $60, and the ongoing ala carte surcharges that major airlines use in assigning luggage and seats. An extra dollar in theater for a hit movie that was supposed to make $100 million is not a venial sin, it’s actually common sense given our time and the pandemic these exhibitors have been through. Many of them are inverted and unprofitable, and the decision by AMC and others to raise prices slightly (even for eight days, which is scheme #1 here) is perhaps more Adam Smith economics than price gouging.
“AMC implemented this price hike very early on for Batman. The first day of Imax screenings at 350 venues last Tuesday sold out a few weeks ago. Pre-sales before the weekend were great – $50 million distributed over the weekend and not loaded ahead of time. Sticker shock? I do not think so. Box office sources tell me that when it comes to the infrequent moviegoers losing their hair at the movies, it’s about the cost of rebates, not ticket prices. By the way, I can tell you that the same group of hot dogs, popcorn, soda and pizza for a party of 3 during the 2018 Venom preview cost me $75 at AMC Burbank, which is $20 more than the Regal was taking in their Valencia. , a stadium in California in my area.
“The whole idea that the exhibitors don’t want to come close to a situation where two moviegoers sitting next to each other were charged two different ticket prices, well, that’s already happened with Spider-Man and Batman. This superhero surcharge is clearly an attempt to make up for any loss of cash due to exhibitor monthly subscription programs.
Tolerance Focus Features / Everett Collection
“For those movie content creators who are concerned that their movies aren’t as valued on the poster as superhero movies, here are a few things to consider. Would you like to get traffic to your indie movie or not? A lower price can create demand (I was told in the same breath that $1 has no effect on increasing or decreasing traffic). Should we pay premium prices for a small independent film? I will say that the most I ever spent watching a movie was on a special title, which was Tina Fey-Paul Rudd’s 2013 Focus Features comedy iPic Pasadena Admission. I laid out $27, a huge amount by today’s and then’s standards. As much as I loved the movie, it didn’t deliver the same experience as, say, Ant-Man at Imax. I would say that the ticket price was too expensive for this type of films. But I was paying for an easy reclining chair, free popcorn, a blanket (which I wasn’t allowed to take home), and what was then all that new luxury restaurant dining.
Still, raising prices is a touchy subject for studio executives and filmmakers, but just as studios have squeezed windows, gone into movies day after day, or slashed a wide stream of releases in-house, exhibitors have to make money somewhere, and that’s the most valuable commodity of the day. If it alleviates filmmakers’ concerns, there’s tiered pricing going on in the massive Metropolitan multiplex between daytime parts and luxury seating on any given day, and we’re well beyond the days when it was one static price per evening show for any movie.
AMC Theaters CEO Adam Aron AP
“Who the hell is announcing a ticket price increase!?” one distribution manager called out to me. Well, Aaron knows. Of course, this is not the best form of advertising, since Regal and Cinemark are silent about raising their prices, but it’s no secret that AMC is mired in debt, and the consequence of his announcement was an increase in the chain’s post-market share. price, +4% on March 1 and +1.2% the next day. Aron serves its shareholders. When we became aware of this topic earlier this week, AMC provided no further comment on the entire topic of Batman’s price increase.
Lightyear Disney
“However, some sources claim that Aron’s announcement of a price increase “sends a terrible signal to the consumer right now.” That there are no compromises for the consumer. That is, if the prices of Batman are rising, it makes sense to lower the prices of competing games. Will major circuits boost tickets for the upcoming popular family game? This is one area where the whole topic of ticket price spikes gets slippery.
So Batman costs about $1 more among the mainstream schemes. Did it limit business? It’s hard to argue with that given that people literally signed up to watch the movie in advance. According to Comscore’s PostTrak, about 60% of Batman movie viewers bought tickets prior to opening day, and 76% of them bought them online (compared to a theater). We hear that AMC raised about a third of the $100.3 million Batman made in the first two days, Regal 20% of that number, and Cinemark 15%.
Will there be further increases in movie ticket prices for highly anticipated films with box office receipts over $100 million going forward? I think we can easily say yes, given that Batman was number two in an inflation-soaked economy.
But, nevertheless, the increase in prices did not stop anyone from watching Spider-Man: No Way Home or Batman.