This week’s release of “The Batman” in cinemas is set to serve as something of a trial experiment for what could very well be a common element of cinema-going in the future – variable pricing.
Adam Aron, CEO of the biggest U.S. exhibition chain AMC Entertainment, says tickets for the Matt Reeves-directed film will cost more than other films due to this experiment. He said in a recent webcast following quarterly earnings:
“Currently, our prices for The Batman are slightly higher than the prices we are charging for other movies playing in the same theaters at the same time
This is all quite novel in the United States, but actually AMC has been doing it for years in our European theaters. Indeed, in Europe we charge a premium for the best seats in the house – as do just about all sellers of tickets in other industries – take sports events, concerts and live theater, for example.”
Aron adds that he sees “considerable upside opportunity ahead if we continue to be imaginative” on pricing.
AMC isn’t the only one either as Cinemark revealed during its earnings call that it is in the midst of using data and analytics to test flexible pricing which will depend on factors such as demand and time of day.
The talk comes as industry projections for the Robert Pattinson-led Batman movie stand at $115-125 million domestically and nearly as much again overseas for a global opening weekend total of $225-245 million.
With a production cost of around $200 million, and no day-and-date HBO Max release strategy, the movie will need to clear at least the half-billion dollar mark to head into profit.
