AMC Enacts No Outside Food or Drink Policy

I always thought it was frowned upon to bring outside food into a theater, but AMC is saying that they have new "No Outside Food" rule. From a story in KansasCity.com:

AMC said that after reviewing its policy on concessions, it began testing the “no outside food” rule in October and is now rolling it out nationwide.

“We had always allowed guests to bring in whatever they want even though people didn’t think we did,” Scott said.

He wouldn’t elaborate on why AMC made the change, but the theater chain has seen declining revenues as people cut back their movie attendance during the recession or use cheaper and more convenient alternatives such as Netflix and Redbox.

Will you go to the theater less because of the new policy? Will they frisk people and check bags?

Comments

[Discostu]

That's the first I ever heard of a theater that allowed outside food and drink. I've always snuck in stuff, once for one of the LOTR movies my wife put a whole steak dinner in her purse, good times.

[vp]

I haven't been to the theater to see a movie in nearly a year and have no plans to go.

[Larry Dallas]

I'll bring whatever I want in...fuck'em!

[MCW]

At most, I get thirsty when watching a movie, because of how much air they blow into the theater. I used to sneak in (how ridiculous that you even have to) drinks and snacks, but I quit after the last time, in which I got sprayed with a barely shaken full bottle of Dr. Pepper (cargo pockets aren't very supportive).

And lets just say that it looked like I wet my pants, and it certainly did not dry. It's wonderful to wet your pants before sitting through a 2 hour film.

[Terry]

I can't understand how making an official rule about no outside food will increase ticket sales. I assume people will still sneak stuff in, or this will only further deter people from going to the theater at all. If the goal is to increase concession sales, how about not charging three to four times the cost for candy and soda compared to a grocery store or even convenience store? It's silly that movie theaters treat themselves like they're a danged sports arena.

[Ryan M.]

Movie theatres aren't in the movie business as much as they are in the candy business. They don't make money off of most movies, the studios take almost all of ticket sales generated. The theater can't take full ticket profits until many weeks later, when everyone has already seen it.

So it starts at the top: Studios taking all ticket revenue, and trickles down to theatres resorting to 5 dollar sodas and popcorns and twizzlers.

[Seth]

"We had always allowed guests to bring in whatever they want even though people didn’t think we did," Scott said.

Exactly. Which is why everyone sneaks the stuff in. And which is why people will still sneak the stuff in.

Not sure what the point of their announcement is if nobody knew about it in the first place.

[Harry]

What is a movie theater?

[Amanda]

There's a local movie theater where I live that has the ticket taker check literally every bag you bring in to make sure you're not sneaking in food or drink. If you are, you're not allowed in. It doesn't bother me all that much; it just means I'll be more conscientious of eating before I go so that I'm not tempted to pay their concession prices for a box of candy.

[BoB]

I haven't been to a theater since X-Men 2. (and have no planes to go again)

[Jack of all Tirades]

Like newspapers, movie theaters are slowly becoming a thing of the past. Give them another 5 years, max. Once watch-on-demand HD goes mainstream (via Netflix, of course), movies theaters will die off and become relics of a bygone era.

No amount of gimmickry (3D) or ridiculous policies (food searches) will save them. With large screen TVs becoming cheaper and as ubiquitous as PCs, it's just a matter of time and economics.

If a theater wanted to look in my coat, etc. they could kiss my business goodbye.

[Brian Colton]

sports tickets got too expensive and people voted with their wallet - now tickets are coming down.

same principle here - don't go see the movie. don't buy the dvd. eventually the theatres will get the point.

entertainment (and it's just that, not necessary) needs to price itself back into our lifestyles, right now it's out of whack.

[BP]

I really don't understand you home theater-will-kill-(x) crowd. Yeah, because a 32" screen REALLY compares to a 32 FOOT screen. Yeah, because an Onkyo 7.1 Dolby Digital EX 500w RMS home theater system really compares with TEN THOUSAND+ watt highly efficient theater surround system that every movie soundtrack is designed for.

Will you weirdos PLEASE get real? Home theater won't kill movie theaters or concerts or sports arenas because they're not an equivalent. What they are is "good enough" for people who (1) don't want to pay ticket prices (2) don't want to deal with the general public and (3) don't feel like going anywhere.

[Gsargent]

I am just about done with AMC. They have the highest concession prices of any theater in the OKC area. I will travel 20 miles to the new Warren Theater (best theater in the country) where the movies are all digital and THX sound. I spend less money going there than to my local AMC which still uses film and Dolby Digital Sound (even though they did convert one auditorium to and IMAX screen recently. Their concession prices are so much higher than their competitors. I guess they think that because they are a mall theater they can gouge people more. The last 5 movies I went to were not at AMC and may not ever be again until they lower their prices (even though I may have to check out the IMAX at least once).

[Phelps]

This whole issue is puzzling to me. When I go to the theater, I go to see a movie. If I want to eat out, I go to a restaurant. Have we reached the point where people can't go two hours without eating or drinking something? Not to mention the incredibly unhealthy nature of movie snacks: just go to news.google.com and search on movie popcorn -- note headlines like "nutritional horror" "greasy buckets of death". Eek!

[Patchoulifan]

I see the movie theaters evolving in some way, but I can't see them going away. Should that happen, I can't begin to fathom how much DVD's, Blu Ray's, or PPV movies would cost. I'm not much on the economics of the movie industry, but I would suspect that the movie theater income is the backbone of the cost of movie production.

With movie budgets often exceeding $100 million, that has to come from somewhere. Otherwise, how are these actors and actresses going to continue to live in the manner that they are accustomed, while tithing plenty to their Scientology churches.....

[Chuck]

The food policy would be more realistic if it stated that "Like" food would be acceptable. IAW, you can't officially bring in a steak dinner, but, you could bring in chips or your own popcorn. Also, they could state that you can bring in Sodas as long as it has a lid or cover.

When I worked with GCC that was the policy at the Theater where I worked.

[Steven Hoober]

“We had always allowed guests to bring in whatever they want even though people didn’t think we did,”

Been to mostly AMC theaters, in KC. In answer to this: Bullllllllsh*t.

Awful and expensive concessions are well up on the list of why I don't go to theaters. I am very happy at home instead. I welcome Netflix as our new entertainment overlords.

[PatB]

BP doesn't seem to comprehend that very few Home Theater enthusiasts use a 32" LCD flat screen TV. More typical is a screen eight feet wide and four and a half feet tall. That's a 110" diagonal. Similarly my home Dolby 5.1 sound system sounds better than any traditional movie theater sound system. I have adjusted the eqaulization to compensate for my hearing losses. Six DB of boost near the fourth formant is about right.

In my Home Theater I obviously dodn't have to worry about being searched for contraband popcorn or cokes. As it happens I like to drink champagne while I watch a movie.

I never tried to sneek food into the movie theater back before I discovered Home Theater. However I did often sneek myself in. I saw "The Return of the King" just that way. I just came in the back door and sat down.

[Del]

There has been only one or two movies this year that I have wanted to see at the theater, other than that most of them where not worth the price of admimission.

I wanted to see Avatar until I found out it was in 3D, now I will wait until it comes out on DVD. I will not pay the extra for the crappy 3D movies they put out now a days, remember Parasite(1982) it was in 3D when it came out and even though it was a cheasy movie it had better 3D effects than any of the movies today.

[byteme]

@Del:

Films released in 3D are also released in 2D. You can see it in the theatre without paying the extra for cheese.

[Patrick]

Along the same lines as the USPS article...
is it a good idea for a failing business to try and 'do better' by pissing off their customers and cutting their effectiveness?
Screw Showcase and the other theater companies for hurting themselves. I'll stay home and watch the 50 inch which from 8 feet away feels the same as 500 inch from 80 feet away (ish).

[Matt]

@Discostu:

Oh my, a whole steak dinner. haha, that made my day.

[chris]

amc usualy is 50/50 with outside food and drinks, i noticed latley its been a bit more relaxed as we walked in with the nearby starbucks or jamba juice, i dont know if theyll stop them, but i dont know if the in and out full meals people bring in will be cool anymore.lol

[Bryan]

Agreeing with a couple of different strands I'm seeing here in the comments:

1. Recently, I haven't been to a movie theater in months - and ten years ago, I used to go two-three times a week. On the one hand, home options have become so good, with Netflix, Hulu, and Ninjavideo - and I don't even have a big flatscreen TV. On the other hand, I've been put off by the theatergoing experience. I have no problem with ticket prices; it's the boorish behavior of other theater patrons, plus the jacked up prices of the concessions, which leads me almost never to buy concessions. It takes a special movie to bring me back into a movie theater, and when I do, I'll continue to sneak in snacks.

2. The death of the movie theater has been proclaimed for a long time (I'm thinking at least back to the 1950's), but they aren't going anywhere. They will be forced to evolve, though. Back in the 1950's, with the first wave of affordable TVs sweeping into US homes, theater attendance dropped, and many people predicted the decline of cinemas. Cinemas fought back with a host of technological innovations, like Cinemascope, and made new kinds of movies, like huge epics, to provide people experiences they could not have in their living rooms. I suspect the same type of thing will happen in the coming years.

[Del]

@byteme

Thanks, I know about 2D versions, but my small town only has one theater and they never show 2D versions, they want the $$$. The closest town that plays 2D versions is 50 miles away!

[BP]

@ PatB

I don't think that I'm the one who "doesn't get it." You're either a troll or you don't recognize that you're (a) not the average American and (b) horrifically pretentious.

Thanks for playing, plausible troll!

[Sock Puppet]

ROFL! I still want to know how they are going to "know" you are bringing stuff in? Full Body Cavity Searches?

Anyway, I don't go to the theaters anymore because they are WAY to expensive, and they still have not figured out how to get the sticky off the floors!

Man that used to gross me out!

[KB]

My wife and I rarely go to the theater anymore; if we do, it's because some movies are so visually impressive that it's worth seeing them on the big screen (I think Star Trek was the last we saw). Other than that, I see no reason to spend $10 on a ticket for Paul Blart: Mall Cop or Marley and Me.

Every theater I've ever been to has had signs saying "No outside food or beverage". If we're motivated, we usually sneak something in but if we're lazy we'll spend $20.00 for two drinks, pop corn, and a box of candy. Regardless of official policy, I'm sure people will still sneak in food & candy.

I don't understand how families bring kids to see any (non cheap theater) movies if it runs my wife and myself in the ballpark of $40.00 for a movie.

[Del]

Before kids, my wife and I used to sneak food and drinks in the theater all the time. She just brought her biggest emptied out purse.

[Uosdwis]

I've been to one theater (not AMC) twice now where you probably, maybe, could've just walked in and sat right down without a ticket. Too chicken to test the theory. I'm not sure if the ticket seller guy in the booth was watching everybody coming in, and the entrance spanned quite a few doors wide. But once I bought the ticket, no one else, besides the concession stand, interacted with me. These were middle of the day matinees, though.

[Former AMC Theater Employee]

I used to work for the world's largest theater, the AMC Ontario Mills 30, in Ontario, California.

There was a posted sign at the ticket-taker since the theater opened that prohibited outside food and drink, but this was never enforced. If people wandered in from the attached mall with a just-purchased full dinner in styrofoam trays, and a grumpy manager happened to spot it, he would ask them to eat it outside. But other than that, people routinely brought in bags of candy, microwave popcorn, snacks, or drinks in hand and in plain sight without anyone batting an eye. And no one ever asked to inspect a purse, diaper bag, etc., so I'm sure there was even more smuggled in.

AMC is just a chain like any other, so this "policy change" sounds just like any other edict from a corporate HQ. District and general managers will still determine how strictly any rule is enforced at local theaters.

[Brian]

I don't think the movie theaters will die off anytime soon. There's something to be said for the movie-going experience. I like to get out of the house sometimes to watch them and I think having a crowd of people helps a lot for comedies in particular. Stuff always seems funnier when a couple hundred people are laughing together. I think the movies are more about that than the sound or picture quality.

[Brian]

Also, I used to work in a movie theater during college break and no one there cared about people bringing in outside food or drink (other than management and the owners) even though it was technically forbidden. An usher getting paid $7/hr isn't going to go out of there way to piss off a customer when the profits from the concessions don't have a direct impact on the usher. I remember one guy real tentatively came up with his slushee and said, "I... I can't bring this in, can I?" and I said, "It's fine. Go ahead." and he looked so shocked, LOL.

[Katie Jane]

I don't even know where there is an AMC where I live, it is mostly Harkins, which is my favorite chain movie theaters. My all-time favorite theater is The Rave movie theater in Cincinnati, not a chain, not huge screening areas, but it is an awesome experience anyway!

[Richard A.]

I go to the movies very often and the one thing I find most annoying about the "no outside food" policy is that most theaters don't offer coffee at their own concessions. Especially during winters I drink coffee and other warm drinks like crazy! Would love seeing Starbucks product or any thing else other than slushies offered.

[Amanda]

The only reason I prefered AMC is because bringing in my own stuff made it cheaper for me to go to that theatre. They don't even have student discounts except on Thursday. But if I have to buy there stuff, theatre by my house is cheaper.

[Zach]

So...AMC is losing business because people are seeking cheaper alternatives to visiting their theaters, and the proposed solution is make the experience MORE expensive?

Brilliant!

That helps explain why this avid film buff hasn't stepped foot in a theater in several years.

[Kalibr]

AMC cretainly has the right to impliment whatever policy they wish and I have the right to stop going to AMC theaters. There is no flippin' way I will pay $4 for a soda and $6 for a bag of popcorn. Maybe if theaters would offer resonable prices at their consession stands, more people would purchase drinks and snacks there.

[Mackintire]

I have a home theater. As long as I can get a better experience at home. I will not go out to the movies.

I have a 1080P HD projector with an 82" screen setup as a constant height system. I have 1800 watts @ 0.1% THD in my system located in a dedicated 18' x 15' room.

My system sounds fantastic and has no issues achieving THX ultra 2 reference level sound pressures.

Still, I went out to the theater see Avatar in IMAX 3D. My reasoning is I don't have a 4K cinema projector, therefore and I can not experience AVATAR the way the director wanted it to be shown. I always try to see movies the way the director intended it to be seen. If I can't do this at home, I go out to where I can purchase that experience.