With The Batman officially out on March 4, 2022, DC fans are flocking to theaters to catch Robert Pattinson’s take on the caped crusader. But if you’re going to AMC, the experience will cost you a little more than usual. That’s right, the theater chain is charging more for The Batman than other films.
The price jump may come as a surprise to many, but it makes sense. The Batman is the first silver screen solo Batman flick since Christopher Nolan’s iconic 2012 hit The Dark Knight Rises, which starred Christian Bale in the titular role. This time, Bruce Wayne grapples with the Riddler, a murderous villain who starts picking off Gotham politicians amid a larger corruption plot tied to Batman’s own family legacy.
Zoë Kravitz stars opposite Pattinson as Catwoman, with Colin Farrell as the Penguin. And clocking in just under three hours, The Batman promises to be one hell of a DC cinematic experience.
The magic of variable ticket pricing
AMC seems to think The Batman is poised to be a box office hit. And the theater chain is eager to cash in on the hype. AMC’s CEO Adam Aron took a quarterly earnings call prior to The Batman’s launch, where he confirmed tickets for the film would come at an increased price.
“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,” Aron said, as Deadline reports. “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.”
The move is called variable ticket pricing. When films are priced variably, theaters bump up a film’s ticket rate based on high demand. In other words, it’s just a way for AMC to make some extra money on a movie that’s really popular and sure to sell out plenty of box office seats.
This doesn’t just happen with high-demand films, either. In-demand time windows can also see an increased price. For example, Aron said AMC has previously bumped up weekend ticket prices at some U.S. theaters, according to Deadline.
Don’t fret too much, as The Batman’s price increase probably won’t break the bank. A middle seat for a standard viewing at a Kips Bay AMC in New York City will cost $19.49 for adults, whereas a seat to see Death on the Nile or Uncharted at the same theater is just $18.49. Similarly in Los Angeles, a seat for The Batman costs $17.89 over Death on the Nile’s $16.39.
So is there a price increase, and is it for a pretty arbitrary reason? Absolutely. But consider the extra dollar and change a minor premium fee just to see The Batman in theaters.
(Image: Warner Bros.)
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