If you’re planning to go and see the new Hunger Games this weekend, you could end up paying more than if you saw a smaller, less high-profile film.
Research by British movie site Film Divider has discovered that Odeon have started charging an extra £1 to see what they deem as the biggest films, at least in the first few weeks of release.
Here's The Drop, priced at £8.90 for an adult ticket.
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The same ticket, this time for Interstellar is £1 extra.
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They’re currently charging you more to see Interstellar, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, and when it opens next month, the third Hobbit movie. Smaller films on release, such as James Brown biopic Get On Up, Tom Hardy gangster film The Drop and British period drama Mr Turner, still cost the normal price.
Odeon’s logic seems to be that these extra-popular films attract large crowds, and therefore need extra staff.
An Odeon representative told Film Divider:
“So we can give our guests the very best experience and keep it that way, we operate a dynamic pricing policy so that we can offer some excellent discounts during our quiet periods. As Interstellar is a blockbuster film and has a high popularity rating, the premium price is applied.”
Looking at archived social media posts by Odeon, this conversation shows the price hike has been in place since the summer.
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It would be nice to think that the cheaper ticket prices might give smaller independent and British films a chance against Hollywood behemoths, though a lot people are still going to see this as a cash-grab.
Still, it’s unlikely that it’s going to put rabid Hunger Games or Hobbit fans off.
