After reporting a loss in the 2nd quarter of this year, AMC is doing what it can to increase revenue. Since the business model of movie theaters is to give all the ticket sales to the studios and scrape out a living on concessions, that means forcing more patrons to buy snacks–so it’s officially banning any outside food and drink.
(SmartSpending notes that Regal Entertainment already has a similar ban in place.)
Aside from the most common reason for bringing in food, which is that movie concessions are too expensive, there’s also the problem of limited and unhealthy options. To address this, AMC told SmartSpending that “it’s going to offer greater variety. Some of its theaters have French toast and Thai coconut chicken tenders on the menu.”
“AMC theaters ban outside snacks” [SmartSpending] (Thanks to HogwartsAlum!)
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Since the business model of movie theaters is to give all the ticket sales to the studios and scrape out a living on concessions
I just don’t buy that. If this were the case, how can places like http://www.pccmovies.com/ afford to sell tickets to the same first-run movies that other theaters show for only $4.50 at night, and $2.25 for matinees?
Granted the theater isn’t laid out like the big AMCs and such with stadium seating, but it’s nice enough.. And the refreshments are even fairly inexpensive ($4.00 for popcorn with unlimited refills, soda are similiarly priced)
You can’t possibly tell me that PCC can sell tickets for $4.50 and the Silverado across the street is selling them for $9.50, and both theaters give ALL that money to the studio(s). Those large theaters HAVE to be keeping some of that money.
Not going to stop me. Charging 5 bucks for a lousy quarters worth of popcorn (their butter flavored OIL makes me sick literally) and 4 bucks for 1 dollars worth of drink is criminal. I will continue to smuggle in food of my choice and drinks. AND I will leave a HUGE mess when I leave.
wanna eat your own food? Then stay at home.
Lying, cheating, stealing, bringing your own food or whatever only serves to give businesses reasons to lie, cheat or steal from you.
PS: I have’t been to a movie theater since the day I discovered DVDs.
Popcorn smell I can handle and don’t mind if I am eating it or not . Something like nachos or oninions on the other hand…
If I want pizza I’ll go to Pizza Hut and not the closet AMC chain .
Ticket prices are bad enough throw in another 10-20 on food I minus well watch a big screen in bar .
I don’t go to this theatre chain because it’s about 5 dollars more expensive than the other chain (Cineplex).
On a somewhat related note, I think i’ll open a popcorn and candy shop somewhere very close to a movie theater …
“Some of its theaters have French toast and Thai coconut chicken tenders on the menu.” Wow! I feel healthier already! Just gimme a minute to apply for that second mortgage and I’ll order some!
So what do they plan to do? Search everyone? Search just the purse-carries (aka women)? Install snack detectors and make everyone remove their shoes?
hmm, I thought they were already banned.
doesn’t matter, I’ll still bring in outside snacks, I’m not paying five bucks for a half a bag of twizzlers.
Don’t rip people off and maybe they will buy something.
I dislike the price but I can understand the theaters and even the smaller mom and pop independents. The business model with Hollywood is broken, with “Hollywood accounting”. If you ask the major studies, only about four movies each year make a profit even if the majority make money then was used to produce and push to each theater. The movie chains need to go back to Hollywood and ask for a share of revenue.
The theaters keep charging more because they have to pay for for the movies and for the upgraded seating and updating to make sure people go to one threater instead of the “newer” one across town. Food and Drinks have become their primary source of revenue.
The smaller independents have it a bit better, but they are a niche market. You will still pay money for food and drinks if not as much, they are more about showing smaller films which never would sell to the general public, and special events where they show classic films at midnight or other events to draw people in.
Now with all that said, Me and my soon to be wife will continue to bring in water and food in her purse or my Timbuk2
Awwwww, poor poor movie theaters… It’ll be all right… Just raise your ticket prices and force people to buy your overpriced concessions…
*head slap* MORONS! That’s the whole reason people have stopped coming in the first place. You are now competing against large LCD TV’s, 5.1 (7.1) (DTS) surround sound stereos, PAUSE buttons, homemade goodness for food, CLEAN (well, usually) toilets, NO DRIVING, NO PARKING, No tall people sitting in front of you, CLEAN chairs, NO one walking in front of you (well, ok, the Cat maybe…), The ability to control the volume, No one texting, talking on the phone, or kicking your chair, and the ability to sit and smoke a big fatty if you want (ummm, if you have glaucoma…).
So if you want to give me an “experience”, realize that it’s not a wallet raping that I’m looking for. Nor am I looking to listen to people chit chatting, advertising before the lights go down, 20 minutes of advertising after the lights go down, sticky floors, dirty seats, people kicking my chair, people walking in front of my seat every 2 minutes, rows of seats right on top of the others, asses of people I don’t know in my face as they go by, texters, talkers, crying babys, loud eaters, people hacking/coughing/sneezing/farting (well, at least those I don’t know personally), teenagers getting blowjobs in the back, gang bangers drinking, having to park in the ass end of a giant parking lot just to avoid getting my car dinged to hell by some no-talent ass clown, never-ending red lights designed to slow down traffic at night just because some fool might be drunk, police checkpoints looking for drunks on the weekends, blown out speakers, dirty screens, ushers afraid to do their jobs, pop corn popped in high-trans-fat oil coated with “butter” substances I can run my car on, and more…
Fuck it – I’ll stay home. My wife and I are done with the bullshit – we go see a movie LATE AT NIGHT, if and only if, it’s an epic saga that needs to be seen on a screen bigger than we have at home. And we see it in iMax… But more and more, we’re getting tired of the wallet rape, so we’re staying home and watching something here…
The sooner the theater chains figure it out and do something about it – the sooner they’ll make some cash. But just because you have some shitty agreement with the movie studios to give them too much of a percentage isn’t my fault. I never agreed to buy anything at your concession stand – rip me off, I’ll return the favor and won’t feel badly about doing it at all. Tell the movie studios that they need to allow you to make money on the tickets so you can survive – if they don’t, then fuck ‘em. Find a studio that does right by you and carry ALL of their movies. The other no-talent ass clowns will fall into line soon enough when there’s no place for their movies to be seen except “direct to DVD”…
Well unless they can guarantee (which they can’t) that all food is nut-free, gluten free, and doesn’t contain other foods to which people have allergies, their policy violates the ADA (for people with allergies.)
Oh, and did we mention that you aren’t required to have a physician’s letter to use the ADA? (And they can’t ask you for one.) You are SOL if you want to make a complaint and you don’t have an actual food allergy, but bluffing your way out if they catch you is still an option.
In addition to unhealthy – there are a lot of people with restricted diet of one form or another who just can’t eat any of that crap (diabetic has been mentioned, vegan, etc etc.). As a vegan there’s not much there for me, that’s for damned sure.
First of all, all theaters do not let outside food in. That is why my girlfriend and me take her tote bag and sneak the food in. The food at the movie theater is too unhealthy and too expensive.
They need more reasonable prices and better selection. Here in Brooklyn before I go to the theater I hit up Chipotle which is about 4 blocks away and for about $10 I can get 2 giant burritos, stuff them in my wife’s bag and eat while we watch the movie. For $10 in the movie theater all we can get is maybe a shitty hotdog and a small drink. Put better foods and reasonable prices and maybe I won’t bring in outside food. Or just build a Chipotle inside of the theater?
I just hide my snacks in my purse, and just put a box of tampons over top. No one ever checks my purse anyway, but if they do they’re in for an awkward surprise :3
Man, it’ll be interesting to see if the Uptown theater in DC goes along with this! They have never cared about outside food the last few years. When I went to see the Dark Knight I walked in with a coldstone milkshake and 2 slices of pizza wrapped in foil, and the ticket taker didn’t even think twice, he just tore my ticket and said ‘enjoy the show’!
I’ll have to find a new theater if they make the change. . . .I guess there’s always sneaking it in, but I usually don’t like candy during a movie, I want a sandwich or something more substantial. . .
The big chains need to take a page out of the independent theaters’ books. The one in my town serves pastries along with candy. Not exactly healthy, but it’s not horribly overpriced, and there’s something about getting a slice of carrot cake at the theater that amuses me.
In addition, the theater owns the cafe next door, so you can bring in anything that they sell next door, frou frou drinks and quiche and paninis and such.
My solution won’t work for everyone (especially the impatient), but I’ve pretty much stopped going to theaters and wait for the flick to come out on DVD. I can have whatever snacks I want at home, there aren’t any morons talking or with cell phones, and I can hit pause and not miss anything when I head for the head.
Yeah, I miss some of the “experience” of theaters, but seeing the latest “blockbuster” (wallet buster is more like it) just isn’t that important anymore. Then again, I’m the type who will read movie spoiler sites and not be bothered by knowing the ending beforehand.
I’m not worried, they’re never gonna be able to search everyones pockets and purses. I find it hard to be sympathetic for the studios anyway. If ALL the money a theatre takes in goes to the studios then the theatres need to make a better deal. If not, let the theatres close and see how much they make when every movie becomes straight-to-DVD and there’s no opening weekend or hoopla. Of course they could just stop paying actors millions and millions of dollars for 3 months of work.
Are you KIDDING ME?!?! The best answer they have for unhealthy food choices is “French toast and Thai coconut chicken tenders” both of which would be high calorie, high fat content foods? WTF?! I mean this seriously. That’s ridiculous. Plus each one of those “Healthy Options” Will be ludicrously expensive. I would say 13 dollars a piece maybe more.
ITs already nearly 5 dollars for a decent size drink and another 5 dollars for a handful of nachos that are stale. The hot dogs are disgusting. The popcorn is obscenely bad for you. The pizza is 5 dollars for a slice and limited to cheese and pepperoni. (Honestly we can get a whole, good pizza for less than 10 dollars and thats the price for a single slice) The candy is sold at retailers for at most $2 a box and you KNOW they are getting profit from it so why cant movie theaters do the same? Their “Combos” are not saving you much at all, maybe 50 cents.
I will keep going to the Movie Tavern, where I can get fairly good tasting and healthy food that I can easily eat for Dinner while watching a movie that costs at least 1 dollar less than a major movie theater like AMC.
Would this kind of be like the ban on talking during films and using your cell phone during the movie, or bringing crying infants into the film? Because if the ban is like that, folks, you’ve got nothing to worry about. But seriously, I agree with most of the posters that the choices and prices at movie concessions are obscenely overpriced! We either bring dried fruit or nothing.
Does anyone have an idea if this is legally enforceable. Can they search you on the way in for un-contraband like they do in stadiums for guns and beer? Does a box of Peanut M&Ms qualify as dangerous. Or perhaps they are within their legal rights to say “this is our business and we don’t allow outside food.” I mean imagine if you walked into a restaurant ordered a coke and your whole family pulls out Big Macs from unmarked shopping bags.
Since this is impossible to enforce, I’ll continue to bring whatever food and drinks I want into the movie theater.
A recent study found that a Regal medium popcorn — 20 cups — contains 1,200 calories, 60 grams of saturated fat, and 980 milligrams of sodium. That’s without the buttery topping that can be drizzled — or poured — on the popcorn, which adds another 200 calories and 3 grams of saturated fat per 1.5 tablespoons. WOW… right??
Yet one more reason to torrent. When will people get it through their heads?
I always sneak stuff in to my local AMC. They’re not going to search you. And if they ever do, I will never, EVER, go to that place again. As simple as that. Their prices are bull#$%^, their food is crap, and there is NO REASON for me to ever eat their food.
I think they’d sell more if they charged less. I would buy a $2 soda. I honestly would. But not a $4.50 one. I would buy a $2 small popcorn. But not a $3.50 one. THESE PEOPLE ARE JUST STUPID.
amc has allowed you to bring in outside food for a few years now.. there is a wendys right next to the one by my house sometimes to go in and get a meal before the movie haha mostly i just liked to hear everone say how the places smelled like chicken nuggets and frys during the movie ha
but my theory is they are losing so much because they are charging ridiculous prices for movies… by my house its 10.50 a ticket and for lg drink and med popcorn its 15.
That’s when my mighty yellow purse comes in handy to smuggle food in! I could fit a small dog in there if I wanted to ( which I don’t because I am not Paris Hilton and have a yellow lab) I’ve had success smuggling in Ben and Jerry’s Pint size ice creams, candy, a can of Pringles chips, drinks, and more!
And I thought theatres banned outside food decades ago. You mean I’ve been smuggling stuff in for no reason?
I can’t wait to sit next to someone eating Thai coconut chicken in a dark theatre.