Please create an account to participate in the Slashdot moderation system

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×
Movies

Regal Cinemas Readying Unlimited Ticket Subscription Program (deadline.com) 64

Regal Cinemas is prepping to launch a new unlimited movie ticket subscriptions service at the end of July in the U.S. Deadline has the details: There will be three tiers of pricing, which work out to $18, $21 and $24 per month, each granting access to unlimited tickets (really). While the monthly price of AMC Stubs A-List movie ticket subscription program varies by state, we hear that Regal's is based on theater location. Those purchasing a top-priced tier will have access to any Regal Cinema (i.e., from Valencia, CA to 42nd Street in NYC), while the lowest tier gets access to about half of the chain's national footprint. If someone purchased a subscription at a low tier and ventures to an out-of-network Regal in a higher tier (like a major city), there's apt to be a surcharge (not final, but around $2-$3) on a gratis ticket.

There are also 10% cash reductions on concessions for each tier, which are immediate rather than receiving a voucher for the next visit. Also, there's buzz that Regal Unlimited subscribers will have to purchase an entire year in advance for the unlimited ticket program, hence the tier prices respectively would be $288, $252 and $216. At this point in time, it's not clear whether premium venues (Imax, Dolby 3D, Premium Large Format screens, Dbox) will be included in the monthly subscription like it is with AMC's. Studio executives have mentioned to us in passing that a greater degree of revenue exists in upcharging a subscriber on premium tickets. Details are still being worked out despite what many might be reading in online chat rooms.

This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Regal Cinemas Readying Unlimited Ticket Subscription Program

Comments Filter:
  • Rent seeking behavior. The next step is to increase the cost of the "rent" in a year or so. More money for free.
  • There as been a lot of "Sell you the world this month, cancel the whole thing later" garbage happening. It's allowed because your buying a "license" so they are not actually taking anything away.

  • Like Polaroid or BELL & HOWELL

    Just a brand to sell more junk...

  • What are concessions? Go with a work bag/messenger bag/purse, put some beer, edibles, and food in it. Not like they search your bag. Who would pay cinema prices for crap food and drink? Overpriced even at "10% off."
    • by samdu ( 114873 )

      The Regal cinemas here actually do search your bags.

      • I've seen bag searches in public venues. Usually, they look in the top of the bag -- it's easy to hide things in the bottom (or on your person).

        Though if you go to such a venue, always be as curt and rude as legally possible to the person doing the search. Why? Because people who get constant pushback for enacting obnoxious policies eventually give up and go through the motions, without bothering to care or be thorough. Be part of making them give up.

        • True! Because the minimal wage theater worker is definitely part of the decisions process and will make sure the process gets changed

          Better tacit is to insist a manager checks your bag. They are part of the decision process but are closer to that group.

          That or stop going to places that search you. Wait the extra 5 months and watch it at home

          • The min-wage worker can choose whether to take their job seriously or just glance in bags to appease the boss. The latter is the ideal situation, of course -- the point is to nudge them towards this approach by making taking their job seriously emotionally costly.
      • Having a jacket draped over your hands in winter with "stuff" under it or in the pockets also works nicely. LOL. b
  • Unlimited moves sounds awesome, until you look at upcoming trailers through 202 and realize there are maybe three things you want to see in a theater....

    Maybe should just buy a few passes for homeless people in really hot areas so they can stay in the AC and comfy seats.

    • Or you just share the app between roomies. OK, it's tied to a phone, but you can borrow a phone for that purpose or have any apps that you "share" on a cheapass communal device with wifi only. Thinking how to cheat the system amuses me.
    • This is clearly not really aimed at you then.

      Some people do see multiple movies in a month.
  • Ad Free (Score:4, Insightful)

    by speedlaw ( 878924 ) on Tuesday July 02, 2019 @09:04PM (#58864506) Homepage
    I'd pay extra if I could just go to the movies, sit down, and watch the show. A full half hour of trailers, designed to flash-boom-bang, is a bad lead in to any film. Ads keep me out of most theaters...I really have to want to see the movie to suffer the mandatory 30 minute stuffing first.
    • Re:Ad Free (Score:4, Informative)

      by b0s0z0ku ( 752509 ) on Tuesday July 02, 2019 @09:22PM (#58864580)
      If the theater has reserved seats, buy the ticket, go have a bite to eat, then walk in 20-30 min late. Or just buy online and go late. No one requires that you're present for the 30 minutes of crap at the beginning -- it's not like it's a train leaving a station.
      • Or just buy online and go late. No one requires that you're present for the 30 minutes of crap at the beginning

        A lot of the subscription based ones do require you to present yourself 15 min before scheduled starting time to collect your ticket, to say nothing of arriving 20min late to skip the ads. The online option just doesn't work because they will release your freely reserved tickets and on sell them since you haven't directly paid for them.

        I don't blame them either, a certain portion of humans are abusive twats who ruin it for the rest of us.

        • Collect your ticket, go out for a bite to eat, then walk in 20 min late.
          • Yeah I didn't say the first part of your post was wrong, just the bit about online purchase being a solution. Your suggestion is exactly what we currently do.

    • Heh. I'm a bit different in that regard... I go see a movie in a theater once or sometimes twice in a year. The trailers are almost exclusively for movies I've not heard of, yet, and I enjoy many of the trailers.
      Doesn't mean I'm going to watch the movie, but I do often enjoy watching the trailers.
    • by antdude ( 79039 )

      Are there any theatres that don't ads like trailers? Even the good popular theaters, in HollyWEIRD, still show trailers. :(

    • I'd pay extra if I could just go to the movies, sit down, and watch the show. A full half hour of trailers, designed to flash-boom-bang, is a bad lead in to any film.

      Ads keep me out of most theaters...I really have to want to see the movie to suffer the mandatory 30 minute stuffing first.

      Never go to a cinema at opening time. Always go 20 minutes late (unless it's a new release and you want to guarantee a good seat... better yet, don't go to new releases they're crowded and noisy).

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      I think cinemas are just an anti-piracy measure now. There is no other way to sell movies on a per-viewer basis where copies are low quality at best. The moment streaming or bluray are available, it's freely available on The Pirate Bay, or to thieves who invite their friends over for a "public performance".

      By being cinema-exclusive they can make more money from ticket sales than they think they could other ways.

      I read that Netflix is looking at producing nearly 100 moives a year, some with a budget of up to

      • I hope not. I sometimes enjoy seeing a movie with friends and it's nice being able to do that without inviting people into my home.

        It is also a nice and easy date.

    • I'm glad they do. I don;t watch commercials are home so it's really the only time I see what new movies are coming out.

      Trailers use to be one of my favorite parts of going to a movie.

  • by Solandri ( 704621 ) on Wednesday July 03, 2019 @03:19AM (#58865718)
    Here's how much Americans spend at the theater each month [statista.com]. Looks like they're hoping that giving up the top 20% (those who spend $21/mo or more in theater tickets) will result in the bottom 80% spending a bit more to get on this unlimited plan. Also note that the people seeing more movies "for free" on the unlimited model are not necessarily a loss for the theater. While the ticket revenue will no longer scale with number of movies viewed, sales of concessions (drinks and popcorn) will still scale. And those are the primary sources of revenue for the theater anyway (the vast majority of ticket revenue goes to the studio which made the movie, not the theater).
  • I wonder how this will work for families. Can I subscribe and get 4 free tickets to a show? Or will they say I need to buy 4 subscriptions to cover my wife, kids, and myself? If the former, it might be worthwhile depending on how many movies my family sees over the course of a year. If the latter, then there's no way I'll be subscribing.

  • watch hd movice in this app showboxl [techzblog.in]

If all the world's economists were laid end to end, we wouldn't reach a conclusion. -- William Baumol

Working...