This week, the seventh Harry Potter film opens in theaters. I've been a pretty dedicated life-long Potter geek, having gone to a midnight release for every film since I was 10. But this will be the first one I'm skipping.
I'd like to pretend this is because I've become an adult, developed patience and can now wait until the following afternoon. But the truth is that the Sundance Cinema at the Hilldale Shopping Center here in Madison has spoiled me, completely ruining midnight screenings at other theaters. I procrastinated too long in getting tickets and the Sundance showing sold out. I could go to see it at any of the other theaters in the area. After all, the AMC in Fitchburg is perfectly acceptable in quality and is offering four midnight showings and even two at 3:30 a.m. But the Sundance Cinema offers something most other movie theaters don't: pre-selected seating.
Back in my pre-enlightened days, midnight showings and even Friday night showings of new movies were ordeals. When my friends and I went to go see a midnight screening of ""The Dark Knight"" at our local theater, we had our tickets two weeks ahead of time. Yet, we still had to trek to the theater two-and-a-half hours early, and we were nowhere near the front of the line. We found out that the first few people in line arrived at 5 p.m., a full seven hours before the start of the movie. After standing in line for about two hours we were finally let into the theater where we got to sit together, but in mediocre seats. One group of four that we saw arrive a half-hour before the movie had to sit in four separate, awkward seats. As we waited, only two of us could leave at a time to use the bathroom or hit the concession stand since we had to leave bodies behind to guard our place in line or, later, our seats. Despite being diligent moviegoers, we still had to spend hours standing in line just to sit together in less-than-ideal seats and guard them with our lives—all this effort for tickets that we had purchased weeks before. Frankly, this system is ridiculous.
In contrast, when I plan on going to a packed showing at Sundance Cinema, I go to their website, pick from the available seats, buy my tickets, and my responsibilities are over. I arrive about five-to-ten minutes early, find my seats and enjoy the movie. This has saved me a world of frustration. I don't have to show up hours early just to wait in line with a ticket I bought weeks in advance in order to get an acceptable seat. I don't have to worry about saving my seat or my friends' seats. I no longer have to dress in layers simply so I have territory markers to claim my seats with. Even if you are a spontaneous person who decides to go to movies at the last minute and don't buy in advance, this is a system that still benefits you. You can pick your seat at the ticket counter. You may not have the best selection if it's a popular showing, but you still enjoy the benefits of having a concrete seat in your name. You can just enjoy the movie, and you won't blindly buy a ticket to discover the only remaining seats make you regret your purchase.
I would like to think it's not simply for mercenary reasons that theaters have refrained from adopting this method of ticket sales that is so obviously beneficial for consumers. But the reality is that the current first-come-first-serve method allows theaters to manipulate customers by trapping them in long waits that increase concession sales and expose them to more advertising. After all, theaters make most of their profits from concession stand sales. I'm sure the people waiting in line for five hours for ""The Dark Night"" bought quite a bit from the concession stand.
However, the Sundance approach has obvious benefits for theaters as well. While pre-selecting may make it harder for theaters to sell those last crappy front-row seats, it allows them to better gauge audiences' interest and alter their schedule accordingly. If a particular screening is close to selling out through advanced sales, this allows theaters to add additional show times in response to consumer interest.
Canada, England, Germany and China do this, and we do it for large concerts, sporting events and air travel. Many premium theaters have already implemented this. But this isn't an amenity that should be reserved for premium theaters. This should be a basic right available to every moviegoer. The technology is nothing fancy––it's 2010, for god's sake. Why can I check online how much time is left on my laundry but not pre-select my seats at most movie theaters? The infrastructure is already in place. One can already buy advanced tickets to almost every theater in the U.S. via fandango.com. And unique theaters like Sundance Cinema that offer pre-selected seating offer selection through their own website. Large chains like AMC need to work together with Fandango to implement this in more theaters.
Movie theaters are only facing stiffer and stiffer competition from home video equipment. These large theater chains need to make more of an effort to cater to consumers. Until they do, I'll be sticking with the smaller chains like Sundance for popular screenings. As a sort-of boutique theater, they may be more expensive, but the extra dollar is worth it to me for my vastly improved experience.
