The Batman: AMC Theatres is charging more for tickets as part of a ‘variable pricing’ experiment

If you plan on seeing The Batman at AMC Theatres this weekend, be prepared to pay an inflated ticket price. It has been announced that the theater chain will be charging higher prices for tickets to the film.

CEO Adam Aron announced on Tuesday that the theater chain is beginning to experiment with so-called variable pricing for different films. They’re beginning this experiment with The Batman and it’s being done as a long-anticipated change in strategy for movie theaters as the business continues to struggle coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

During an earnings call, via Entertainment Weekly, Aron said that ticket prices for The Batman are “slightly higher than the prices…for other movies playing in the same theaters at the same time.” You can expect AMC to charge $1.50 more for an adult ticket to the latest adventure with the Caped Crusader in Los Angeles, compared to a ticket to another movie at the same time and the same venue. Here is what Aron had to say about the strategy:

“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 other sellers of tickets in other industries — think sports events, concerts, and live theater, for example.”

Variable pricing, which is charging more for tickets to movies with higher demand, has been tossed around for years as a strategy to boost the struggling exhibition business which struggled even more as the pandemic began to take over. The strategy was initially met with resistance but the pandemic has changed the game a bit and this is a method that needed to be explored to help increase ticket sales for movies.

In Aron’s opinion, charging more for The Batman is no different from theater chains already charging higher prices for evening and weekend showtimes. He feels that the pricing for the superhero film is a natural extension of this strategy:

“AMC has been a bold thinker in the area of pricing. One who is willing to take risk, and one who is willing to lead, and one who sees considerable upside opportunity for us ahead if we continue to be imaginative.”

Do YOU agree with this ticket price increase strategy for The Batman?