Holy price surge, Batman! Get ready to plan ways to sneak in your movie snacks because tickets to The Batman are expected to be pricier than usual. Deadline reports that AMC Theaters will be testing out a variable pricing model with the release of Robert Pattinson-led film.
“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,” said AMC CEO Adam Aron during an earnings webcast. This comes after the theater chain found success a few years back with raising its weekend showtime prices above the lower traffic of weekday showings.
“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.”
AMC has had a rough time the last few years due to the pandemic keeping away moviegoers, so them testing out a way to make more money to help their previous situation isn’t that surprising. With Spider-Man: No Way Home swinging its way to being Sony’s biggest movie ever despite a new surge of COVID-19, blockbusters appear to be a safe way for theater chains to test out those increased prices.
And billionaire Bruce Wayne may be the man for job, since, according to Variety, The Batman is projected to kick open its opening weekend with an estimated $100 to $125 million at the domestic box office. This would make The Batman the second pandemic-era film to cross over the $100 million mark in a single weekend, with Spider-Man: No Way Home being the first.
With moviegoers already having it up to here with high movie prices, time can only tell if AMC’s plan will keep masses coming to cinema or have them repeating, “That’s a utility belt, not a money belt,” like a certain bird sidekick.
The Batman swoops into theaters March 4, 2022.