Well do they?
I used to go to the theater on a real regular basis (2-3 movies a week). Now that I bought a house, I can’t really afford to this anymore.
Then I thought, hey I wonder if I can buy a seasons pass?
Why wouldn’t they? Theaters make the majority of their money on selling outrageously priced food.
I’d pony-up around $200-$250 (Canadian) for a 1 year seasons pass.
MtM
One of the chains around here (Regal) has a rewards club you can join where you can earn free movie tickets for for spending X amount in 1 year.
Cinemark offers supersaver tickets where you can buy tickets good for any show at a discount (US$5.50-6.50 depending on if the tickets are good for “no passes” shows or no). You must buy at least 50 tickets at a time, and in groups of 10.
No one offers a season pass of unlimited visits, most likely because while the theatre makes money on the concessions, the studios make money on individual ticket sales and would never permit such a thing.
A local theater here in Montpelier, VT - the Savoy - does offer ‘seasons pass’ type things in the form of Patron Memberships. It costs $275 a year… but you get a free popcorn. It’s expensive. The Savoy is a small one-screen theater that shows mostly independant/small budget films.
I’d like to chime in about Regal’s Rewards Club. If you are a frequent movie-goer, this is a pretty good thing to participate in. Basically, they give you 1 point for every dollar you spend on a ticket, and give you something every 25 points. 25 = free popcorn, 50 = free drink, 75 = free movie ticket. Repeat every 25 points. So you get a freebie every 2.5 movies.
Plus, you get free popcorn regardless if you attend on a Thursday.
Details here:
Also, Century sends out coupons weekly for those who subscribe to their weekly email. Usually a free drink or popcorn.
IAAFTE (I am former theater employee) and can say that at least AMC does not, nor would it be econmomically advantagious to do so. Its almost comical to even think about, based purely on what it costs the theater to show a movie. When you say that a movie was so bad it left the theater in a week, that isnt because the distributor/producer pulled it, its because the Distributer wants money per week of showing the film, with regulations on how and when the film may be shown. Long story short, they almost eat a loss everytime they sell you a ticket and you dont buy popcorn, but I could “upsell” enough consessions to make up for it. Think about it, your telling us that you cant afford to pay for the 2-3 movies per week, why would you spend money on the “outrageously priced food” that keeps the theater in buisness? I know I wouldnt (and dont), when i get in for free anyway. As a side note, i just called up my friend, who still is an assistant manager there, and according to him, it was tested in Texas as the “Movie Watcher Plus” system, and it failed miserably, AMC theaters has a system similar to “Regal Rewards” and in Texas they offered a pay program which didnt work at all. In addition, I just got off the phone with AMC national office, downtown from me, and they were out for the day, but I will try back tomorrow. Sorry for the bad news. One more side note, I just remembered that our local school district sells a pass for something like ten dollars which allows admission to a “kids oriented” movie every week. They are generally older films, but ive been known to borrow some from the neighborhood kids to go see modern classics like “The Sandlot” or “The Goonies”.
I had no idea the margins were so tight in the movie theater business.
I guess that answers my question…
MtM
Im not sure what your situation is, but you might consider, if movies are a big enough deal to you, getting a part part time employment there, or talking your kid into doing it. Free movies and cheap concessions. If you make enough friends doing it (like I did) youll get free movies and cheap eats long after you quit. As an added bonus you often get to see movies before they are officially released and will wind up with a trunk full of posters.
-PSM
If you live near a big city with a film society, you can get a pretty good deal by buying an annual membership from them. The deal is that by paying a relatively small membership fee, you get free admission to preview showings of new films. Generally these will be foreign and independent films (and definitely not probable blockbusters) and will be shown on Monday through Thursday nights.