The science of movie theater “innovation” in the 2020s has largely been the science of trying to get ever-more blood out of a dwindling population of stones. This is all over the concession stand, obviously, as various chains have tried to seduce moviegoers into spending more money on increasingly distracting and lurid popcorn buckets. But it’s also hit the theaters themselves, as when AMC flirted with, before ultimately backing off of, a plan for tiered pricing for the best seats in the house at any given showing a few years back.
Now, Variety reports that the chain has revived the idea with a key twist: Instead of directly paying more money for seats that don’t either stick you in the outfield or force you to stare straight up into Glen Powell’s nasal cavity, you’ll be able to secure them by the slightly more roundabout method of being a member of the paid tiers of the company’s loyalty programs. Variety was reporting on an earnings call featuring the chain’s CEO, Adam Aron, who told listeners, “Later this year, AMC will introduce preferred premier seating, where we will block and reserve the best seats in the house in our theaters to be accessed first only by our A-List and our Stubs Premiere members—that’s the two VIP tiers within our Stubs program—at no added charge at AMC.” (When Aron says “VIP,” he means you have to pay money to get them; either $18 a year for Premiere, or $15-$28 per month for A-List, which includes free weekly movie tickets in the price, and which varies by state.)
As those of you with basic pattern recognition skills have likely already noted, this is essentially the same program as AMC’s Sightline attempt from back in 2023, except without the ability for non-members to pay their way into those swankiest of seats. (Getting the best seats without having to pay the extra charges was one of the benefits for Premiere and A-List back then, too.) AMC scrapped Sightline, reportedly, not because people wouldn’t pay to get a decent seat—they would—but because not even lower prices could get anyone to pay for a front row seat. Presumably, someone at the chain believes that rephrasing the whole situation as a benefit for subscribers will get out from under some of the inherent optical problems of the old tiered system.
There are a lot of questions still be addressed here, including whether seats will eventually be released to the general public as showtimes get closer. But for now, we all have this to look forward to some time in 2026: A big block of every AMC theater rendered inaccessible to those who aren’t ponying up for its subscription programs.
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