Theatres take advantage of Barbie and Oppenheimer’s demand with higher ticket prices at some shows

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Almost a million and a half Canadians visited a Cineplex cinema during last weekend’s Barbenheimer bonanza, helping the ticket office in North America rise to record heights. But some movie viewers may not have noticed that the cost of their ticket was different depending on the screen format, seating or screening time, but on which movie they decided to watch.

In a number of Cineplex locations, a general admission ticket for Greta Gerantanig’s Barbie By Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer costs $1 more than a ticket for slightly older releases, including Mission: Impossible-Calculation Of The Dead Part One, The Sound Of Freedom and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. At Cineplex Cinemas yonge-Eglinton in Toronto, for example, a general admission ticket for Barbie or Oppenheimer it was $14.50 before taxes or extra online. There’s a ticket for The Dead Count – in the same kind of cinema, at the same time of day-it was $ 13.50.

Not all theaters were affected. At the Cineplex Cinemas Beaches location in Toronto’s East end, for example, a general admission ticket for Barbie or Oppenheimer it costs $ 12.99, the same as The Dead Count. But the issue was present at Cineplex sites across the country. At the company’s Scotiabank Theatre in Vancouver, a ticket to Barbie it was $ 15.50, with Destiny ‘ S Dial price at $14.50.

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The practice of charging more for different titles is called “variable” or “dynamic pricing”.”Last year, Amc Entertainment set up online hackles when the US movie theater chain charged more for tickets to Batman than other films, less expected.

In a statement sent to the globe, Samantha Shecter, Communications Manager for Cineplex, said, ” this is a practice that has been in place for a number of years; anticipated consumer demand is one of the factors considered when determining price, as well as location, age of a guest, day of the week and others. There are no surprises and a guest is fully aware of what they are paying when choosing the type of ticket.”

In May 2022, Cineplex chief executive Ellis Jacob told The Globe that, “the way we do variable pricing is with our premium offerings: if you go see a movie on IMAX, on Ultra AVX, you pay a premium. We have not reached the point where we have premium prices because it is the ‘X’product. We’ll look at it and do it if we see it working. But for us, it is driven by the experience we are offering you.”

Quiz: should you see Barbie or Oppenheimer? Take our quiz to find out

When asked to clarify Jacob’s comments, and whether there were films whose prices increased before Barbie and OppenheimerShecter said the Cineplex CEO was not referring to a single week of screenings but to the “entire screening” of a movie. “We currently apply the extra fee for a few weeks on selected high-demand films. When determining the price of the ticket, additional factors considered include the duration it will last and the prediction of the success of the film. We do not include a fee on most of the films we show in our theaters.”

Cineplex, which operates more than 1,600 screens across the country, was not the only premium award of the Canadian theater, the Barbenheimer experience. Landmark Cinemas, Canada’s second largest exhibitor, also appreciated some of the Barbie and Oppenheimer show $1 higher than other titles. Representatives for Landmark did not immediately respond to Globe’s request for comment.

Earlier this month, Canada’s Competition Commissioner Mattheflix Bossibell doubled down on his allegations that Cineplex was using “deceptive marketing practices” to sell tickets through its website and app. Z. Bossibell has charged that the fees applied to some tickets purchased online constitute “price dripping,” a deceptive practice where customers are drawn into a purchase without full disclosure of the final cost.

In its filings, the Toronto-based exhibitor said the Competition Bureau’s claims were without merit, as cinematographers are told of the fees they may face from the start of the purchase process.

With files from the Canadian Press