AMC Theaters to introduce Sightline pricing based on seat location

By Dan Girolamo February 6, 2023

AMC Theaters will begin to adjust ticket pricing based on where a seat is in the theater with its new Sightline AMC offering.

Sightline AMC will have three tiers: Standard Sightline, Value Sightline, and Preferred Sightline. Standard will offer customers the most common seats in the auditorium at the same price as a standard ticket. Value Sightline will include seats in the front row and select Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) seats within the auditorium. Value seats will be cheaper than Standard, but will only be available to AMC Stubs members, including the free tier membership. Preferred will include seats in the middle of the auditorium at a premium rate. AMC Stubs A-List members can reserve Preferred seats at no additional charge.

Related Videos

Sightline AMC will launch in select AMC theaters this weekend in New York City, Kansas City, and Chicago. AMC will expand Sightline into more markets and cities by the end of 2023.

Picture of an AMC theaters.

“Sightline at AMC more closely aligns AMC’s seat pricing approach to that of many other entertainment venues, offering experienced-based pricing and another way for moviegoers to find value at the movies,” said Eliot Hamlisch, executive vice president and chief marketing officer at AMC Theatres. “While every seat at AMC delivers an amazing moviegoing experience, we know there are some moviegoers who prioritize their specific seat and others who prioritize value moviegoing. Sightline at AMC accommodates both sentiments to help ensure that our guests have more control over their experience, so that every trip to an AMC is a great one.”

Sightline AMC will start with all showtimes after 4 p.m. Also, the program will not be enforced on Discount Tuesdays, which offers $5 tickets to AMC Stubs members.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Tech News

Entertainment

Please, don’t let adult cinema die

A woman stands at a street corner in Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris.

Last month, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris premiered to near-universal acclaim from critics and audiences; those that actually went to the theater to see it, anyway. Starring Academy Award nominees Leslie Manville and Isabelle Huppert, the surprisingly bittersweet movie follows a widowed cleaning lady who travels to Paris to purchase a dress from the prestigious but struggling luxury fashion house of Dior.

Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris is the third film adaptation of the 1958 novel Mrs. Arris Goes to Paris, but the charm is still there. The formula works, mainly thanks to the luminous and undeterred performance from the mighty Leslie Manville, one of her generation's most underrated actresses. Yet, despite its overflow of enchanting entertainment, the film failed to register at the box office; indeed, it barely made a dent, grossing $2 million on its opening weekend. So far, the film has grossed $8 million, which doesn't bode well for its long-term prospects.

Entertainment

Hollywood is abandoning movie theaters at the wrong time

Tom Cruise flys a plane in Top Gun: Maverick.

After a rough two years in which the COVID pandemic and the rise of streaming services contributed to a record decline in audiences going to movie theaters, Hollywood is seemingly coming back. Franchise tentpoles like Jurassic Park Dominion and Minions: The Rise of Gru posted healthy opening weekends, while Marvel recovered from the pandemic low of Eternals and is once again posting worldwide grosses for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder that flirt with $1 billion (or soon will be). And above all else, Top Gun: Maverick continues to make money week after week, becoming Paramount's biggest hit since Titanic.

All that progress, however, is increasingly likely to stop in August, when a dearth of product will threaten the recovery of the theatrical experience -- and the sustainability of Hollywood's traditional business model. The already dire situation got even worse, with Warner Bros. recently pushing back the Stephen King adaptation Salem's Lot and MGM opting to release the Sylvester Stallone-led genre film Samaritan on Prime Video. While both films are not guaranteed blockbusters, their absence is all the more pronounced with what's left on the theatrical calendar for August, September, and even October: cheap horror films, indie movies with little hope of crossover appeal, and re-releases of past hits like Avatar, Jaws, and E.T.

Audio / Video

Why Top Gun: Maverick must be seen in IMAX

Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick.

For years now, I've had a very strict policy when it comes to seeing movies in theaters: IMAX, or I don't go. This past weekend, I ignored that policy and went to see Top Gun: Maverick in a standard theater, and I've been regretting it ever since.

I know that an IMAX-only policy sounds elitist and entitled, and it is. But it's also pragmatic. I'm fortunate enough to have a 65-inch TV at home and a pretty decent Dolby Atmos home theater sound system. It's such an enjoyable way to watch movies, I've come to the conclusion that the only movies I will see in a theater are big, Hollywood extravaganzas. The kind of movies that demand to be seen on the big screen. You know the ones I'm talking about: Marvel, DC, Star Wars, James Bond, Mission: Impossible, and yes, Top Gun: Maverick.