What's the best seat in the house?

AMC's plan to charge more for the "best" seats in theaters is more of a reflection of the industry's desire to push ardent moviegoers toward subscription plans.

There’s been much hullaballoo about AMC Theaters’ recently announced plan to charge more for the “best” seats in cinemas. The so-called “Sightline” plan would charge a premium for seats near the center of the theater, while ones along the fringes would stay the same.

As one of my friends posted on social media, “Are movie theaters just trying to drive away their remaining customers??”

I admit to experiencing a shaking-my-head moment when I read AMC’s missive. As one of the largest theater chains in the country, their moves tend to produce a ripple effect in the industry, including plenty of copycatting. Most people already think movie tickets are too pricey anyway — $9.17 is the national average, though that can vary widely according to region and showtime.

When I talk to people who say they’re not going to movie theaters as much as they used to, the first reason cited is they’d rather just watch stuff from home that they’re already paying for via Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and all the other big streaming platforms. Going out in the evening or on the weekend can be challenging, especially if you have kids, and then having to slap down something like half a week’s grocery bill just to get the family in the door can be discouraging.

Though, as I’ve long pointed out, theaters actually make the bulk of their revenue from concession sales, the studios and distributors keeping most of the ticket price.

They’re basically just restaurants that use movies as the bait. That sort of inverted business model is not entirely foreign, much like newspapers made very little from subscriptions and coin-box sales but relied upon advertising (especially classifieds) for the real loot.

I have three major thoughts on the Sightline controversy. The first is the little-noticed mention that members of their monthly subscription service, AMC Stubs, would be exempted from the upcharges. We’re living in a subscription model world, and many industries would rather bank on a regular monthly payment from customers than taking the chance they’ll actually pay to come.

I see this as a carrot-or-stick type of marketing ploy to nudge more people toward Stubs.

Sure, you’ll have a small percentage of super-users who actually watch several movies a week. But most members to these theater subscription services — even MoviePass is making a comeback — soon settle into a habit where the theaters’ cost-per-customer is not that far off from day-to-day ticket buyers.

And again, theater owners’ real goal is get you in the door and tempt you with salty or sweet snacks. More traffic in the door, whether they bought a ticket that day or are a club member, gives you more chance at a concession sale.

The second observation is that, as others have pointed out, paying more for the best seats has been a standard part of other entertainment venues for decades — sports arenas, playhouses, music concerts, etc. It’s not unusual for a top seat to cost many times more what one in the rafters does. So you could say movie chains are just catching up.

This has already been going on with movie theaters for a number of years, too, though hidden in the rubric of reserved seating. That started in Los Angeles about two decades ago and has become more and more common, with a $2 upcharge or similar (whether explicit or baked into the price) for the right to “reserve” your seat.

Anyone who’s ever bought reserved movie theater tickets this way, either in person or online, knows that the ones in the center of the theater go first. Chairs have also been upgraded with the ability to recline to better mimic the “comfy watching at home” experience. Again, you’re already paying for that, whether you know it or not.

My final thought is that what represents the “best seat in the house” is highly subjective.

I remember seeing “The Hunt for the Red October” on opening day in a packed theater, with the only seat left being in the very front right. I literally had to crane my head nearly straight up to see anything, and left the theater with a horrendous crick in the neck.

(Still loved the movie, though.)

Though most would agree that was not an ideal spot, opinions vary widely on what is. I personally like to sit dead center on the side-to-side scale, and close enough to the screen so the edges are right at the start of peripheral vision. That gives me a sense of being fully immersed in the movie.

(It’s also usually where the studios reserve seats for critics at advance screenings, so guess I’m lucky that way.)

My boys prefer to sit high up in the theater, so I have to talk them down to somewhere in between. People who use wheelchairs are often given less choice of where they can sit. Many folks prefer to sit on an aisle so they can make quick trips to the bathroom or concession stand.

Roger Ebert famously liked to sit nearly in the back of the theater off to the far right (as you face the screen). I can confirm this was true, having attended a few Chicago press screenings over the years, sitting near him and chatting with him afterward.

Roger and people like him probably wouldn’t be affected by “best seats” upcharges since they prefer to watch outside the traditional preferred zones. You’ll also see people picking seats as close to their favorite spot but outside the upcharge areas so as to avoid extra cost.

What it comes down to is that movie theaters are struggling, and will continue to struggle, as the pandemic rapidly propelled a sea change in viewing habits that was already happening — and isn’t about to reverse course. This move by AMC initially struck me as just more grubbing for dollars.

But I think it’s mostly about getting you to join their club so they can rely on that stable monthly income. It’s just the way of the world now.

Hey, speaking of subscriptions… have you considered upgrading to a paid membership to Film Yap?? Here’s a link for 50% off your first year, or less than you’d pay for a movie ticket and popcorn.