Elijah Wood criticizes AMC Theaters after their announcement of seat-specific ticket prices

AMC Theaters is currently facing a lot of negative reactions as they join Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery in the conglomerate brotherhood of questionable business decisions. The movie theater chain announced yesterday that they would be implementing a new system in which ticket prices would vary according to the seat you choose. Variety now reports that Lord of the Rings star, Elijah Wood has taken to his social media to call out the theater company.

The Yellowjacket star, posts on his Twitter, stating, “The movie theater is and always has been a sacred democratic space for all. This new initiative by AMC Theatres would essentially penalize people for lower-income and reward for higher income.” YouTube Film Critic, John Rocha, adds his own words to the parade of reactions, “Look, this is some classist shit. IMAX, 4DX, 3D, Screen X charging more makes sense since you’re getting the film in a new way. BUT this is not the way. Poor people, you sit in the poor section and you rich folks please move the velvet ropes around the…”

The new experimental model, dubbed the Sightline Initiative, will be implemented into three markets starting Friday — New York, Chicago, and Kansas City. The model is as follows; three different seat-pricing options: Standard Sightline (“seats that are the most common in auditoriums and are available for the traditional cost of a ticket”), Value Sightline (“seats in the front row of the auditorium, as well as select ADA seats in each auditorium, and are available at a lower price than standard sightline seats”) and Preferred Sightline (“seats in the middle of the auditorium and are priced at a premium to standard sightline seats”).

AMC also revealed in its announcement that people in their loyalty program, Stubs A-List, will be able to reserve seats in the Preferred Sightline Section at no additional cost. Value Sightline pricing is only available to AMC Stubs members, including the free tier membership. With more and more slip-ups, these movie business companies have been seemingly shooting from the hip with business ideas. Netflix unveiled a plan to get rid of “password sharing” which they’ve now backtracked. Similarly, HBO has been canceling such hit shows as Westworld.