In the wake of the announcement of its new ‘Sightline’ initiative which involves tiered pricing on film tickets, AMC Theaters is facing backlash from not just users but people in the industry itself – including “The Lord of the Rings” actor Elijah Wood.
Wood, who’ll soon be seen in the second season of Showtime’s “Yellowjackets,” took to social media recently to condemn the decision for potentially hurting filmgoers with lower incomes.
He said in a tweet: “The movie theater is and always has been a sacred democratic space for all. This new initiative by AMC Theatres would essentially penalize people for lower-income and reward for higher income.”
The Sightline initiative kicks off on Friday at select AMC locations in New York, Chicago and Kansas City and will be expanded to all domestic AMC locations by the end of the year. The exhibitor is offering three different seat-pricing options: Standard, Value (cheaper) and Preferred (more expensive).
Users have been posting photos of various cinema auditorium seat layouts which are employing the new system and found ‘Value’ really only applies to the front row, whilst ‘preferred’ takes up a large chunk of the mid-section of seat layouts.
AMC noted in its announcement that AMC Stubs A-List members will be able to reserve seats in the Preferred Sightline Section at no additional cost. Value Sightline pricing is also only available to AMC Stubs members.
AMC made headlines last year after it boosted ticket prices for the opening weekend of “The Batman” with an additional $1-2 surcharge compared to other movies playing at the same time.
Source: Variety
