Movie theater owners that want to remain relevant should pay attention.
Dinner and a movie service? Yes. Alcohol? Yes. Comfy recliner seats? Yes. Top notch sound? Yes. Old school arcade games in the lobby?
Absolutely.
Hope I don’t sound greedy, but think all will help attract adults to visit your theater more frequently.
Thirty-three percent of those who went to a theater three to five times in the past year spent four to seven hours streaming every week, with 30 percent of those who went to the theater six to eight times in the past year reported spending the same amount of time streaming. Out of those who’ve been to the theater more than nine times in the past year, 31 percent said they stream 15 or more hours per week, according to the study.
Madison Theatre will use perks and quirks to entice movie-goers – Times Union
Reserved Seating is BETTER than open seating
Just read this complaint about how “awful” it was watching a movie at the theater these days:
If you have not had to watch films under the same conditions that the general public does, you have no idea how awful an experience it is. We recently went to see “Dark Waters.” We had to buy reserved seats, but the movie theater was practically empty. Then the assault to our senses began with a series of surround sound commercials, followed by awful coming attractions, interspersed with more commercials.
Going to the movies these days is a horrible experience
Can’t disagree more strongly with this moviegoer.
Having seen every wide release movie in the theater for the last 6+ months, I know that reserved seating is a benefit and better for customers. I would rather be able to know where I can sit that nobody else is sitting before buying a ticket and entering the theater and being surprised by what seats are left.
As for previews/trailers before a movie starts? Look at the starting time for a movie and add 15 minutes. Make that your actual starting time for the movie and you’ll skip seeing most/all of the previews. In Regal cinemas, make it 20 minutes. You can tell in Regal Cinemas when the movie is about to start because the brief student film plays right before the movie starts.
Back to reserved seating, if you buy your ticket in advance … say stop by the theater earlier in the day and buy the ticket and reserve your spot, then you don’t have to worry about coming late and getting stuck with a bad seat.
Over 2.5 million movies seen by Regal Unlimited members in 6 months
In August 2019, Kara and I both signed up for Regal Unlimited passes enabling us to see any new 2D movie as many times as we wanted for essentially $22/month USD. I just received a 2019 recap for all the movies seen in 2019:
A total of 68 movies seen in theaters that were all rated and reviewed. According to the email I had $685 USD in “savings” by buying the unlimited plan vs. paying the per visit ticket price (around $12 average per movie).
68 x 12 = $816
$22 x 5 mos. = $110
= 816 – 110 = $708 (my numbers are close enough to theirs)
If you are going to watch 2 or more movies a month in theaters, the unlimited pass is well worth it.
Let’s face it, staying home is not what everybody needs or wants to do. Movies provide a social outlet to get out of the house and do something. We need to stay active in this world or we’re dying. Staying in the home bunker watching on your TV, no matter how elaborate, is not the same social experience. This isn’t “romanticizing” the theater experience as some like to label it.
This year we should watch 100+ movies in the theater. Figure a minimum average of 2 movies open wide every week, and assuming we see all, that’s 104+ movies (52 weeks x 2 = 104 movies).
See you at the theater in 2020!
Movies, Movies, Movies 
In the UK we have somthing similar called the “Cineworld Unlimited Card”. Sounds very similar to your offering.
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