Theaters lure crowds with upscale updates
In the battle for eyeballs, lures include luxury seats, themed cocktails, better food
Heated luxury seats, full bars entice viewers
The recent grand unveiling of Universal Cinema after its multimillion-dollar renovation was a true Tinseltown affair.
After cutting the ribbon for the flagship AMC theater near Universal Studios Hollywood, celebrity guests such as Steven Spielberg and Jordan Peele hit the Director’s Lounge, which now provides full bar service and gourmet food. All 18 auditoriums boast Dolby Atmos surround sound and laser projection, viewed from 1,930 luxury recliners.
It sounds like Hollywood extravagance, but movie theaters nationwide are touting similar state-of-the-art amenities to attract customers in the face of stiff entertainment competition from streaming services and mobile devices.
Box office reached an all-time high of $11.37 billion in 2016, thanks to rising ticket prices, but attendance essentially is flat: 1.33
billion tickets sold last year, up only slightly from 2015’s 1.32 billion, according to comScore.
With admissions up just .02% from this time last year, and the crucial summer season at hand, the need for outreach is clear.
“Theaters are fine-tuning every option they have to make it more appealing and lure moviegoers. They are trying to make that movie night out an experience people will come back to again and again,” says Jeff Bock, senior boxoffice analyst for Exhibitor Relations. “Better seats, food options and drink are a big part of that.”
Here are a few of the cuttingedge efforts to get customers off their couches and into theaters.
SEAT REVOLUTION HEATS UP
The most dominant theater trend is comfort. The standard pulldown theater seat is giving way to plush luxury recliners, often with with leg rests, cup holders and the ability to transform into a double-width loveseat.
“If you’re going to pay $20 for a ticket, (you) want luxury chairs,” says Bock. “Theaters are providing the ultimate experience in comfort that people just can’t get at home.”
AMC, the country’s largest theater chain, has installed luxury recliners in more than 200 of its 600 theaters, with most of these auditoriums entirely upgraded to the premium chairs, says spokesman Ryan Noonan. He says “a majority” of the $420 million AMC spent on upgrades in 2016 went into this seating.
The chain is even turning up the heat. Noonan tells USA TODAY that AMC will start incorporating luxury seats with personal heaters in pilot locations this summer, “with more planned in the next few years.”
There’s a year-round need, says Stephen Simons, founder and CEO of VIP Cinema Seating. “Funny enough, even in places like Florida, air-conditioned theaters can get cold,” he says.
Regal Theaters is incorporating “butt-kickers” into the kingsize seats at a dozen of their RPX premium theaters. They feature built-in woofer speakers that vibrate, bringing the viewer into the action.
In addition to power recliners, the 16 iPic theaters nationwide are rolling out “pod” seating, which allows couples to dine privately on built-in tables (with cabinets to stow shoes and bags).
The chain also is bringing out double chaise lounge chairs, placed up front, which turn a previously unpopular seating area into prime real estate.
FOOD GETS EVEN FANCIER
AMC is overhauling its food menu this June, a national rollout that includes trendy chickenand-waffle sandwiches, a spicy Sriracha dog, gourmet popcorn, stone-fired flatbread pizzas and gluten-free snacks.
“This is a big sign from the industry leader just how important the expanded menu is to theaters,” says Daniel Loria, editor for the trade publication BoxOffice.
Dine-in locations like the Dallas-based Studio Movie Grill have continued to step up their game, adding seared Ahi tuna and blackened chicken pasta to the popular coconut chicken tenders and seasoned edamame at their 26 locations. iPic theaters feature Hollywood chef Phil Rosenthal’s gourmet mac and cheese fries during the month of May, part of a rotating gourmet menu.
Theaters are tailoring the food around films. At Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas, the menus change with the blockbusters. The theaters’ 27 national locations currently are serving “I am Froot” shakes inspired by Guard
ians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, while the Croque Maurice French bistro sandwich earned its spot on the menu during the run of Beauty and the Beast.
ADULT BEVERAGES GO UPSCALE
Alcohol sales have become the hot concession, with The Holly
wood Reporter calling booze “the new popcorn” — 32 states have relaxed restrictions on serving alcohol in theaters over the past two years.
The drinks have gone next-level innovative: The Heisenberg Liquor Infusion Tower blew steam into iPic theaters in January, using liquid nitrogen to flavor cocktails with fresh fruits.
Cinépolis USA has seen up to 5% growth year-overyear with alcohol sales, which are ex- pected to make up 28% of its food and beverage sales in 2017.
Seven full-liquor Cinépolis theaters will serve a Wonder
Woman blue martini (with red raspberries) around the film’s June 2 release, part of the rise of blockbuster-themed cocktails.
AMC will show off The Gauntlet cocktail for Wonder Woman and the Banana Hammock for Baywatch. The tentpoles are tied to beer, too. Flix Brewhouse, based in Round Rock, Texas, is selling Groot-inspired Flora Colossus beer for Guardians 2, a double IPA with plenty of hops. “Alcohol is a new, increasingly visible dimension in the moviegoing experience,” says Loria. “It’s appealing to adult moviegoers and highly profitable.”
VIRTUAL REALITY IS A MOVIEGOING REALITY
Ahead of The Mummy (June 9), there’s the Mummy Zero Gravity Stunt VR Experience, which virtually takes participants along with Tom Cruise on the zero-g flight seen in the movie’s audacious plane action sequence. It will open to the public at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York starting Memorial Day weekend.
Regal Theaters in 15 cities will feature Alien: Covenant In Utero, a new VR experience that gives a terrifying 360-degree view of the birth of the killer creature from director Ridley Scott’s Alien: Cov
enant (May 19). IMAX opened its first standalone VR Experience Centre in L.A. in January, with centers headed to three cinema complexes in New York and L.A. in 2017.
IMAX is working on VR experiences around future behemoths such as Justice League (Nov. 17) and Aquaman (Dec. 21, 2018).
“It’s the next big. This is truly immersive,” says Bock. “Importantly, it’s something that excites Millennials. Getting them off their phones (and) into theaters is key moving forward.”
EVENT NIGHTS PROVIDE A LIFT
With niche specialties ranging from live theater performances, movie revivals, sporting events and anniversary releases, Fathom Events is quietly growing into a serious player.
Fathom put on 131 events in theaters in 2016 (up from 2013’s 55), seeing attendance rise from 2.1 million to 3.6 million.
Already in 2017, Fathom has hosted 14 million-dollar events — matching 2016’s total and making it the country’s 12th largest distributor, according to comScore.
CONVENIENT TICKET PURCHASING
Online ticket sales are following the audience to mobile devices via apps such as industry leader Fandango (70% of its sales are on mobile devices) and Atom Tickets (which allows users to poll friends on movie selections and pre-purchase snacks).
Fandango is pushing forward with voice-enabled ticket purchasing on every platform, and even offers “worry-free” ticketing, which allows for a full refund on advance tickets right up to showtime.
Apps allow assigned seating, taking the unknowns out of the movie equation. “People want to sit in the seats they want to sit in,” says Bock.
Of all the theater amenities, Peele finds this the most alluring.
“I like this,” says the “app-oriented” actor and filmmaker “It’s nice to go and not have to jockey for position, so having the seats in advance is key. That and caramel corn, if I can get it.”