Hopefully surge pricing for new movies isn't coming to Canada

Actually, at one point reserved seating at a higher price was the case with Cineplex.
That's one excuse to jack up prices, but
I think the idea died.

never effects me since I can pause and replay all movies at home. no need to waste money in theatres and on popcorn.

jdmfishingonly wrote: ↑ never effects me since I can pause and replay all movies at home. no need to waste money in theatres and on popcorn.

Apples to oranges. Nothing beats the "big screen" and FULL surround sound, which sometimes sounds like it's coming from under your seat!

Cineplex this past weekend to see Spiderman: 2 adult, 1 child, 2 medium drinks, 1 small drink, 2 medium popcorns and 2 bags of candy = 73$ (i.e.- the 2 adult tickets were 9.99$ due to being a member).

I dont believe ticket prices here will rise (or much) but expect it for concessions. For what we purchased, its an esy 400% markup

Good discussion thread +1

lmcjipo wrote: ↑ In Montreal, we do have a small independent movie theatre that shows movies that were released about 1 or 2 months ago for around $6 all the time and we also have a small movie theatre that shows movies about a month or so before they are released on streaming or Blu-ray platforms for ~$2.50

Du Parc and the Dollar cinema at Decarie Square?

Before the mega plexes my 3 favorite spots were Loews, the Egyptian and The Palace...

KravenHead wrote: ↑ Du Parc and the Dollar cinema at Decarie Square?

Before the mega plexes my 3 favorite spots were Loews, the Egyptian and The Palace...

No, I was referring to Cine Starz Cotes-des-Neiges which is part of the "independent" Cine-Starz cinemas and of course the Dollar Cinema at Decarie Square. I wasn't aware that Cinema Du Parc was open. I do remember going there when I was a kid and watching "Hero at Large" with John Ritter.

However, it seems as if Cine Starz has raised their prices after the pandemic and is now charging $8 for their regular price but if you show up there before 5pm, it is $6 (and on Tuesdays it is $5 for the entire day).

I remember the theatres that you mentioned. I remember seeing "Rocky II" at Loews, "Goodwill Hunting" at the Egyptian, and "The Karate Kid" at the Palace (this was before Palace turned into a discount Famous Players movie theatre where I believe they were charging $2 for admission). I only went once to the Egyptian. I remember paying ~$2 at Palace and spending "the entire day" inside and watching 2-3 movies as they didn't check the tickets after you paid and entered.

I used to live in downtown Montreal and remember going to a lot of cinemas that are now closed. I remember seeing "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" at the cinema at Place Alexis Nihon, "Tron" at a cinema in Westmount on Green Avenue (I think it was called Claremont Cinema), "Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan" was in the Cinema Imperial, "Jacob Two Two meets the Hooded Fang" in Snowdon Cinema

Those were the good old days

playnicee1 wrote: ↑ Actually, at one point reserved seating at a higher price was the case with Cineplex.
That's one excuse to jack up prices, but
I think the idea died.

I remember Famous Players charging extra for a feature where certain seats had what appeared to be a sub-woofer built into the seat so the seat would vibrate during certain sequences in the movie.

I think I paid extra twice for this privilege and one of those times, the seat wasn't working. I complained after the movie but they didn't do anything.

One more nail in the coffin of the movie theatre business. Ive been to the cinema three times in the last ten years and it's been an awful experience each time.

playnicee1 wrote: ↑ Apples to oranges. Nothing beats the "big screen" and FULL surround sound, which sometimes sounds like it's coming from under your seat!

The projection tech in theatres is outdated, hasn't been upgraded in probably over a decade and just being bigger doesn't make inherently better than modern 4K HDR/DV 5.1/Atmos home theatres which have far more impressive picture quality. After watching Dune in both IMAX and in 4K HDR at home, I greatly preferred the latter and won't be back to theatres again until they can upgrade to match the level of picture quality we're getting with modern home theatres if that's even possible.

The key to be successful is to charge less for movies and try to fill up the theatre as much as possible. A guy who goes to a movie every week at 5 dollar a pop is better than a guy going there once every two month at a inflated price.

Surge charging is only good if everyone is competing for a seat but now it’s almost empty and if that is possible to open due to covid.

I would say they should introduce a program, the more you spend the more rewards you get. Service don’t really cost them that much. But everyone wants a freebie here and there. Sort of giving upgrades for free because no one bought the VIP sitting. Or giving surprise rewards for food for free.

spike1128 wrote: ↑ The key to be successful is to charge less for movies and try to fill up the theatre as much as possible. A guy who goes to a movie every week at 5 dollar a pop is better than a guy going there once every two month at a inflated price.

You make an excellent point, but there's a lot to be said about VIP seating also. Maximum quality seat with a lot less people and food brought right to you for the same price as having to pick it up yourself.
(before the movie starts)

playnicee1 wrote: ↑ Apples to oranges. Nothing beats the "big screen" and FULL surround sound, which sometimes sounds like it's coming from under your seat!

I used to go to the cinema all the time but with covid I skipped cinema for years and don't feel like I'm missing much. Sure the sound can never match but everything else is an improvement. Can watch any show at any time on demand on big OLED TV with decent sound bar. Food and drinks available as I want. Pause and use the washroom as I want. Watch in pj if I wanted. I rate the upsides trumps the 24 speaker or whatever sound setup they got in the commercial place. Did I mention I don't need to pay extra for all the 4k streaming?

Surge Pricing? I guess they have to make up a phrase to charge you more. One big theater just went under due to Covid in my area, I don't know how well Movie Theaters will be doing, let alone attracting people with higher pricing. But if a lot of people want to see one movie, I guess they can charge more if people want to see it bad enough. All I know is that it won't be me.

We usually go to matinees so I don't think that's peak time.

I guess from a busines standpoint if you can charge an an extra $1/ticket during the evening/nights of opening weekend, where demand is at it's peak.. why not?

divx wrote: ↑ I used to go to the cinema all the time but with covid I skipped cinema for years and don't feel like I'm missing much. Sure the sound can never match but everything else is an improvement. Can watch any show at any time on demand on big OLED TV with decent sound bar. Food and drinks available as I want. Pause and use the washroom as I want. Watch in pj if I wanted. I rate the upsides trumps the 24 speaker or whatever sound setup they got in the commercial place. Did I mention I don't need to pay extra for all the 4k streaming?

It sounds like maybe movie theatres need to work harder to earn future business.
I'm sorry, I still watch TV on a 43 inch Samsung Full HD TV with no sound bar (as of yet)
It meets my needs, but the sound from the TV is of poor quality compared to other possible options.

Those with the proper space and the right money own a nice 85 inch TV, 4k...possibly 8k TV, premium sound bar and all.
They've created their own theatre experience in their home. Good for them.
Me, not so much.

playnicee1 wrote: ↑ It sounds like maybe movie theatres need to work harder to earn future business.
I'm sorry, I still watch TV on a 43 inch Samsung Full HD TV with no sound bar (as of yet)
It meets my needs, but the sound from the TV is of poor quality compared to other possible options.
Those with the proper space and the right money own a nice 85 inch TV, 4k...possibly 8k TV, premium sound bar and all.
They've created their own theatre experience in their home. Good for them.
Me, not so much.

Actually I forgot the biggest improvement is no distraction from other people using their cellphone, talking and kicking the seats. Guess I been away from cinema for so long I even forgot about that. I think during the pandemic with direct to home streaming and movie releases it makes even less sense as we don't have to wait to watch the show at home.

divx wrote: ↑ Actually I forgot the biggest improvement is no distraction from other people using their cellphone, talking and kicking the seats. Guess I been away from cinema for so long I even forgot about that. I think during the pandemic with direct to home streaming and movie releases it makes even less sense as we don't have to wait to watch the show at home.

Splurging on VIP seating terminates the kicking of the seat, but your concern about cell phones is still a good strong point.
I see nothing about a cell phone ban in theatres, (through a signal block) but it would be nice.

playnicee1 wrote: ↑ Splurging on VIP seating terminates the kicking of the seat, but your concern about cell phones is still a good strong point.
I see nothing about a cell phone ban in theatres, (through a signal block) but it would be nice.

They can surge the pricing all they want, there are people who want to stick with cinema and the rest of us are done with that and just stay at home. There is no need to convince each other to do anything different.

divx wrote: ↑ They can surge the pricing all they want, there are people who want to stick with cinema and the rest of us are done with that and just stay at home. There is no need to convince each other to do anything different.

& as I said, theatres will have to work a little harder to get people in. VIP theatres are the best. Seats spread out and all. This pic shows a VIP theatre, but there are smaller ones in downtown Toronto that might charge more.



...and comfort is everything to some.