New scenes, who needs to buy tickets? By the time the talk show circuit starts we will have seen it all!
Star Wars Ep. VII has a name...
- Thread starter @Li3n
- Start date
Well, we don't know the full story yet, just the scenes. This way we are less interested in the visuals and will concentrate on the story more.
Brilliant move, JJ!
Brilliant move, JJ!
I just bought our tickets for opening weekend. It feels so weird that I have to buy tickets for a movie more than a month ahead of time. Granted, part of that reason is to make sure we have babysitting lined up, but the more pressing reason is that seats are already selling out/sold out.
I'm still deciding if I like this new system of prearranged seating. On one hand, it gets really hard to get tickets the day of a show, especially if you want to sit together (we had that issue for Jurassic World), but on the other hand,with a little planning, you don't have to show up and be told things are sold out or cross you fingers that you'll find seats together. Ah well; Mr. Z and I still a few years away from spur-of-the-moment movie viewing, anyway.
I'm still deciding if I like this new system of prearranged seating. On one hand, it gets really hard to get tickets the day of a show, especially if you want to sit together (we had that issue for Jurassic World), but on the other hand,with a little planning, you don't have to show up and be told things are sold out or cross you fingers that you'll find seats together. Ah well; Mr. Z and I still a few years away from spur-of-the-moment movie viewing, anyway.
I would, but last time I did that, I got the one surprise in the movie spoiled for me. I've been actively avoiding spoilers/certain discussions this time because I want to go in and be surprised. I'll probably avoid this thread opening weekend until after I go.
Got my tickets.
Feels weird to be buying tickets for a movie not coming out for another month, and then will still have to get to theater early to get decent seats.
Feels weird to be buying tickets for a movie not coming out for another month, and then will still have to get to theater early to get decent seats.
I like doing that. But then I don't go on to movies on opening weekend.
. . . although back when the Phantom Menace came out, my buddies went to opening night on a whim. Going in to the twelfth of so showing that day they were able to walk right in to plenty of seats as the movie started.
This was Toronto, so it was on a hundred screens endlessly. Made those people waiting in line for a month seem like idiots. Although I'm now completely envious of those idiots who can spare a month just waiting in line. Sigh.
I am going to be able to see it in an actual theater! We're seeing it matinee on the 19th! Tickets purchased and seats selected. Giddiness in check.
Are the opening night tickets more expensive? Or are you just opposed to paying non-matinee? Almost all of my film watching in theaters has been matinees in empty-ish theaters.
Tickets were getting scalped for the first showings all over the place for exorbitant prices. I wasn't referring specifically to you or anything, just found it funny that people are that impatient for a movie that will obviously be on as many screens as possible, being played as many times as possible like it's a limited resource.
Funnily enough, our big theater chain here doesn't do matinee pricing. Actually, after the boss was on that weird show Undercover Bosses, he decided that offering free refills on drinks was bullshit and the drink prices in general were too low because they were losing money on concessions because not enough people were buying them, so they shrunk the sizes of everything and raised prices. They decided on the Games Workshop model of trying to make up lost sales in higher prices.
<---- Ran a Cineplex for 3 years. Typically, for matinee pricing, as well as tuesday pricing, they have to eat the cost cut out of the ticket and pay it back to the studios. They are super scared of home theaters and are seemingly doing everything they can to make everyone prefer them without consciously realizing it. The shit storm that occurred when we, in the span of a year, made a larger cup size that cost more, at least here in bc, made that the only one you could get refills on and then took away refills all together on something that cost fractions of a penny was a mental nightmare. I believe we also got rid of popcorn refills at the same time as well as increased the cost of butter further. Not to mention the amount of bureaucracy from people who haven't worked at a theater level in decades made any kind of work/life balance impossible. They want people to dedicate their life to the theater but pay assistant managers about $1 more than standard cast. I made a bit more but was salaried and often would work 55 hour weeks. In the end, if I worked it out hourly, I wasn't really making that much more to run their business.
Their big revelation to pull people out of their home theaters and back into their houses was two fold, at least when I was there. First, to make "premium" screens, that obviously cost more, while not taking that idea far enough, like the Alamo Drafthouse's down in the states do. If people are spending the kind of money that it takes to go to the movies now, regularly upwards of $50 just for tickets alone depending on your options of AVX,VIP, 3D, DBox or any combination of those, you need to make that night FUCKING MAGICAL. There should not be guest interruptions but if there are, there should be ushers in the theaters to address that, it shouldn't be on a guest to come out, miss more of their film and have to be placated with passes. The options for food are awful and insanely priced. Yes, they cover the cost of operation as well as the bulk of profit but that is something they've grandfathered in from years of dealing with studios and have accepted as how things go instead of doing things to change it. Unfortunately, studios taking the bulk of ticket sales during the most profitable period is the norm and there isn't much they can do about it. I was around when they tried that against Disney for Iron Man 3, it almost boiled down to them not getting the film. You can't take on the studios and win on that front. But if you're going to make things the prices they are people can't leave thinking "That asshole in the back wouldn't shut up and the popcorn and hot dog that cost $20 were both cold. Next time, let's just wait for netflix or buy it when it comes out, I'll make that pad thai you like and we can stay in. That way I won't get pop all over my shoes and can use the washroom without missing anything." or they will come less and less often and soon not at all.
The other side was going super automated to the point of not even having a staffed concession, all online or kiosk ticket purchases and pretty much just have a manager or two work. All while keeping the prices for tickets the same.
A lot of indie film places are getting liquor licenses because being able to sell beer, mixed drinks, and actual good food (usually pizza) for date nights has turned into a profitable enterprise. I know that we've had a place here in Columbus that's been doing it since the 70's and it's the entire reason the place is still in business. It's probably going to be the norm in a few years.
There's a lot of backlash on reddit for Quentin Tarantino making the initial premiere of Hateful Eight a roadshow film, with overture, intermission, and exit music. Mostly along the lines of, "it's 2015. Who the fuck cares?"
^^ is why. Make it an event.
In fact, at least one auditorium in every new multiplex should be designed for roadshow type screenings. Top of the line equipment, reserved seating, and a screen with a curtain. Like they did in the 50s when the first big wave of roadshow pictures came in reaction to TV, make it an experience Netflix could never hope to match.
^^ is why. Make it an event.
In fact, at least one auditorium in every new multiplex should be designed for roadshow type screenings. Top of the line equipment, reserved seating, and a screen with a curtain. Like they did in the 50s when the first big wave of roadshow pictures came in reaction to TV, make it an experience Netflix could never hope to match.
Cheaper matinee pricing is something I haven't seen since the '90s. Free refills for anything at all don't exist here. It's all automated as fuck, with only the toilet lady being there because, well, apparently they can't be assed (yet) to install those swinging pay doors you see on truck stop toilets. And the movies are more expensive than in the US, too. It's one of those oddities, but really, I don't see any reason to go to a cinema unless it's for something I know won't be on "on demand" for months which I really want to see.
The VIP theaters have this as an option. Seeing a movie in one of those costs at least 5 dollars more than a standard theater, plus all the other up charges for 3D and gives you access to marginally better food. It's still made by the same kids that make the burgers and really only improves in terms of perception of what is offered because it bruschetta sounds fancier than a burger, but ultimately, if what you bring the guest is a few pieces of baguette with pizza sauce smeared across it, that shit ain't gonna fly with the higher end crowd, even if I can get a $7 pint of Budweiser. Again, it's just not taking it far enough toward the premium side of things while raising the prices too far toward them.
Yeah, Odeon, Scotiabank, Cineplex Odeon, Silvercity and a few others all all operated under Cineplex Odeon as a parent company.
I want this so bad for a theater near me.
People don't appreciate going to the movies anymore. It's why you have kids acting like shits there; their parents don't lay it on that this is a treat. I used to go to opening nights because that's when the movie was a big fucking deal, like it should be, even if it ends up being terrible.
Studio 35 gets their food from the great pizza place next door (they get a deal and the pizza place gets more business, they literally built a door between both buildings to facilitate this), discounts on some of the beer (local breweries), and maintains a low admission price ($8 unless it's a special event, where it can be cheaper (Bad Movie Night) or more expensive (beer tasting event)) by running older (cheaper) movies most of the time and about one new release a month. It's not a fine dining place, but I've never had a bad experience there and I would take any date I there in a heartbeat.
Alternatively, I can do Gateway Film Center, which is the proper art house cinema on the OSU Campus that has a full-on attached restaurant (separate staff). I go here monthly for Night Owl Theater. It has the same ticket price as Studio 35 for anything that isn't a special event, but they do a lot more business by having more modern equipment. Yes, they have a $3 surcharge if you want to watch the 3D stuff but they also do a good discount if you're a student.
So I guess I'm just sort of spoiled for options.
Two theaters in town, Cinemark and Carmike. No IMAX, no draft house type theater, and no reserved seating. We do at least get matinee pricing, but unless school is out (Christmas break, summer) no weekday matinee shows. Unfortunately the Carmike got Ep VII, so it's a mall based theater with no exterior entrance, gonna be really fun to get into the weekend before Christmas to see my showing of the movie.
Wow! I've never heard of scalping movie tickets! That is a bit nuts.
The closest theater to us has a restaurant attached to it and one can order burgers and beer and then they deliver it to your seat, but prices are ridiculous so I always skip that.
GasBandit
Staff member
The premiere cinemas used to be so much nicer than the Cinemark.... now it's a dumpster. Kinda sad really.I'm seeing it at the Cinemark here. College Station empties out after finals. Graduation is that day, meaning most everyone else will be on campus. That probably means no line at the theater.
