Reserved seating at movie theaters is a terrible idea
AMC, a major movie theater chain, announced that it is only going to offer reserved seating - assigned seats that you buy ahead of time - at all of its Manhattan locations.
This is a terrible idea!
As of Friday, September 2, anybody who wants to see a movie in New York's busiest borough will have to buy their tickets well ahead of time to avoid getting painful neck injuries when the only available seats are in the very front row.
It's understandable why AMC might think this is a smart move, even if it's misguided. Broadway shows, concerts, and sporting events tend to have assigned seats, sure, but they're very different activities. Going to a ballgame or musical often involves a lot more planning ahead of time, while at their best, movies can be spur of the moment.
I see a lot of movies, but I don't often plan ahead. If I get out of work at 6 and decide that I want to see the worst movie of all time, "Batman v. Superman" at 7:15, I'll buy my ticket right when I leave work. Then I'll schlep up to the theater. Maybe I'll stop at a bar to get a beer or two in order to help bring me down to Zack Snyder's level, but I'm still at the theater early enough to grab a seat. There are usually plenty.
Reserved seating all but ruins an impromptu trip to even a mildly popular movie. If I look into buying tickets and the only seat left is directly underneath the screen, well, then I'll just go home and watch Netflix. My couch has no reserved seating, and the food is cheaper.
Movie theaters across the country are freaking out because people don't see as many movies anymore. Attendance is falling - most folks only see a handful of films in theaters each year - so to compensate many theaters are trying to make going to the cinema more of an event. They do special events (I personally sat through a 27-hour marathon of all the Marvel movies leading up to "Age of Ultron" at an AMC theater), stream live performances, and throw all manner of gimmicks at the audience in order to entice them into coming to the movies. Reserved seating helps make seeing a movie a special event.
But by leaning into making movies an event, AMC and its ilk are inadvertently shutting the door on the concept of moviegoing as a casual activity. If they want movies to be like seeing a fancy show, well, I only see one or two of those a year.
There are other problems with reserved seating and getting rid of the even playing field. It makes buying tickets with friends that much more of a hassle, as it's complicated to buy separate tickets with the intention to sit together because the system prevents you from purchasing spots that would create orphan seats. Needing to buy tickets online ahead of time also renders any special passes or free tickets (which they give out a lot if you know how to get them) useless because, by the time you use them at the door, all the good seats have already been reserved.
If chronically late people know they've got a seat waiting for them, they're much more likely to casually stroll into the theater after the lights have already gone down, and then squeezing their screen-blocking butt in front of your face as they rudely shuffle to their seat during the crucial opening scene.
Plus, there's invariably going to be an awkward moment when someone else is sitting in your assigned seat, and then you have to confront them and it's a whole thing. Ugh.
"As we look at markets where we can begin to make reserved seating prevalent, there's no better place to start than Manhattan, where a trip to the movies often means a subway or cab ride," the chain's executive vice president, John McDonald, said in a press release. Ignoring the fact that a subway or cab ride is an everyday thing that every moviegoer does in Manhattan, it shouldn't have any bearing on getting to a movie on time, McDonald's quote is ominous. They're only starting with Manhattan.
Reserved seating: Coming to a theater near you.