Movie goers to AMC Theaters will see a ticket price increase for the “best seats in the house” in coming months.
The AMC Theaters in Billings, Great Falls and Missoula sometime this year will be offering tiered-pricing for theater seats, with the “preferred seats” in the middle rows costing more. The price for standard seats won’t change and matinees and other discount programs will remain the same.
Sam Boerboom teaches media studies at Montana State University Billings. He says some movie goers may stay home instead of paying more for the premium option and they will lose out on the underappreciated collective viewing experience of the crowd.
“There is a very powerful human impact that comes with experiencing that collectively,” Boerboom said. ”Yes, you can experience it at home individually, or with a partner or family, but there is some uniqueness about experiencing it in a crowd. And I think filmmakers are going for that.”
Boerboom thinks the tiered pricing will catch on with other theater chains, leading to the homogenization of movie offerings and less diversity.
“While it makes good business sense for AMC and probably its competitors to do this, I think the consumer is the one who’s ultimately the one who is going to suffer as a result," he said.
Boerboom thinks the change will provide an opportunity for local, independent movie theaters to offer an appealing option for the collective movie experience with a broader range of films at reasonable prices.
The tiered-pricing begins this weekend in New York, Chicago and Kansas City and will expand to all AMC locations by the end of the year.
YPR reached out to AMC’s corporate office for a timeline for Montana AMC Theaters but had not heard back by deadline.
