AMC will now charge you more to sit in middle of movie theater

Information reaching Kossyderrickent has it that AMC will now charge you more to sit in middle of movie theater.

AMC Theaters, the nation’s largest movie theater chain, on Monday unveiled a new pricing scheme in which seat location determines how much your movie ticket costs. Seats in the middle of the auditorium will cost a dollar or two more, while seats in the front row will be slightly cheaper.

AMC said the pricing plan, dubbed “Sightline,” has already been rolled out in some locations and, by the end of the year, will be in place at all domestic AMC theaters during showings after 4 p.m.

Last weekend, Paramount Pictures partnered with theater chains to offer slightly reduced ticket prices for the comedy “80 for Brady.” And last year, during a dry spell in theaters, tickets at most movie theaters were $3 for “National Cinema Day.”

But in most circumstances, movie tickets are getting more expensive, especially when factoring in large-format screens and 3D showings. The average 3D premium format ticket for the biggest box-office hit in recent years, “Avatar: The Way of Water,” was about $16.50.

Under the new model, AMC will divide up an auditorium's seats into "Standard Sightline," "Value Sightline" and "Preferred Sightline" tiers.

The "standard" seats, which AMC identifies as "the most common in auditoriums" will be available for the normal price of a ticket. "Value" seats, meanwhile, are identified as those in the front row, and will be sold "at a lower price" than the normal ticket cost.

Moviegoers who select seats "in the middle of the auditorium" will be hit with a "Preferred Sightline" upcharge, which AMC describes as "a slight premium" in price.

A seating map will show the price differences when customers are purchasing their tickets.

In a statement, AMC chief marketing officer Eliot Hamlisch framed the move as a way to bring movie theaters in line with other entertainment venues where ticket prices range in price depending on where you sit.

"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," he said.

Sightline pricing won't apply to matinee showtimes before 4 p.m., AMC noted in its release, and customers who pay for AMC Stubs A-List memberships will be exempt from any charges.