The Cineplex Varsity is going to start charging extra for all the best seats
We always imagined the movie-theatre social contract to be something like this: everybody pays the same price for tickets, seats are first-come-first-served and everybody stops talking and checking their phones the instant the previews are over. And yet, evidently the marketing minds at Cineplex don’t see it that way. According to the Star, the theatre chain is going to start experimenting with charging premiums for the best seats in its theatres, and the first test location is going to be the Varsity Cinemas, in the Manulife Centre.
“It’s really about providing our guests with choices when they go to the movies,” Cineplex spokesperson Pat Marshall told the Star. Yes: soon Torontonians will have the choice either to pay for something they’ve been getting at no additional cost since the invention of film, or to sneak into those seats after the lights dim and risk being ejected by a theatre attendant.
The charge is expected to apply to the middle rows of the theatre (back-row sitters are safe, for now), and it will likely be $2 or $3 on top of the regular ticket price. It won’t be a tremendous price to pay, especially by comparison with the $7 premium Cineplex already charges for admission to Varsity’s VIP cinemas. And Cineplex can be reasonably sure the move won’t affect customer loyalty. It’s not as though Toronto moviegoers have some other giant theatre operator to give all their money to.
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/city/cineplex-varsity-charging-extra/&title=The Cineplex Varsity is going to start charging extra for all the best seats&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/cineplex-varsity-624x395.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_274510" align="alignnone" width="656"] (Image: Canadian Film Centre)[/caption]
We always imagined the movie-theatre social contract to be something like this: everybody pays the same price for tickets, seats are first-come-first-served and everybody stops talking and checking their phones the instant the previews are over. And yet, evidently the marketing minds at Cineplex don't see it that way. According to the Star, the theatre chain is going to start experimenting with charging premiums for the best seats in its theatres, and the first test location is going to be the Varsity Cinemas, in the Manulife Centre.
"It's really about providing our guests with choices when they go to the movies," Cineplex spokesperson Pat Marshall told the Star. Yes: soon Torontonians will have the choice either to pay for something they've been getting at no additional cost since the invention of film, or to sneak into those seats after the lights dim and risk being ejected by a theatre attendant.
The charge is expected to apply to the middle rows of the theatre (back-row sitters are safe, for now), and it will likely be $2 or $3 on top of the regular ticket price. It won't be a tremendous price to pay, especially by comparison with the $7 premium Cineplex already charges for admission to Varsity's VIP cinemas. And Cineplex can be reasonably sure the move won't affect customer loyalty. It's not as though Toronto moviegoers have some other giant theatre operator to give all their money to.){kind=link}
If this wasn’t really a cash grab, why couldn’t they just charge a bit less for the worse seats?
PROVIDING choices? More like taking choices away for people with no money. Backlash coming to a theatre near you soon!
You know what costs practically nothing? Front row seats in my living room to watch Netflix. Cineplex: Don’t go the way of the Blockbuster dodo bird…
This is so ridiculous. Why not charge the same (already steep) admission, and let the buyer choose from available seats, especially online? Come on Varsity idiots.
How the heck will they possibly enforce that once people simply buy the cheaper ticket and then move to the premium seat? Will they go around every 15 minutes during the movie with flashlights and check people’s tickets like they do on trains?
There is absolutely no logic to this plan whatsoever other than it being a naked cash grab for yet another company that pays its workers peanuts.
Do they not realize that most of the extra profit they make on this will probably just go to staffing costs in order to enforce this? Makes no sense at all.
Growing up in Jamaica years ago, the cinemas charged different prices for different seating sections, including VIP in the same auditorium.
This isn’t a great way to go. It’s so much better to just Netflix or what would be better is one of us books the theatre and get a discount to go watch a movie whenever we want.
That’s kinda the platform we’re working on. We’re not ready yet – but we’d love some feedback from you superstars. http://www.groopla.co
Well put!!!
Another reason I get my new stuff from a guy know….My seat at my home is the best and I am not being fleeced ….I actually went to see a movie last week. it cost me more for my medium Coke and Popcorn than it did for the film itself. 2 nights later I am sitting watching 2 movies at home on a recliner with HD surround sound 65 inch screen and my popcorn cost me a buck and the 6 pack of coke cost 1.97 ( bottles at shoppers) I hope that Cineplex is watching here cos there is no way I will be doing that again 25 bucks to go see a movie with a med pop and popcorn. not in this day and age. So I assume the idiot that came up with this idea will be looking to make a career change in a few years when theatres start closing down.
just daft
Enforcement will be so disruptive. Watching some average person being told to leave their seat so that some Chanel-wearing prick can have it will be such a major downer. Thanks for telling me which location to avoid.
Thanks for that input but I’m not sure Canada needs to become more like Jamaica.
The trouble is it’s not a concert or a sporting event where you can get a significantly better view in different parts of an arena or theater. The average cinema goer doesn’t even go for the “premium” seats when they’re available.