$35 for a movie in Redmond
So, say you want to go to a movie and have something to eat at the same time, maybe a cocktail or two. You’d go to the Big Picture, probably, or Central Cinema, or, you know, stay at home. But sometime in the next few years you might have another option. A luxury option. (Am I the only one who is starting to really hate the word “luxury”?)
A whole mess of investors are partnering up to put some luxury theaters in a suburb near you, and Redmond is at the top of the list.
Each complex will sport theaters featuring 40 reclining armchair seats with footrests, digital projection and the capability to screen 2-D and 3-D movies, as well as a lounge and bar serving cocktails and appetizers, a concierge service and valet parking.
But the circuit will especially push its culinary offerings — made-to-order meals like sushi and other theater-friendly foods from on-site chefs (a service button at each seat calls a waiter). Moviegoers will have to pay extra for any food they order, however [Variety].
So. That’s about $35 for the movie/experience, plus whatever food you order. Sushi is a theater-friendly food? This kind of joint already exists in places like Australia, Greece, and Singapore, and to a less-extravagant extent here.
What do you think? Are you biding your time until this place opens?
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My husband and I are so excited for this to come to Seattle. He hates going out to dinner and I hate movie theaters - this is the ultimate compromise.
I think people will disregard it at first, but once people start going and telling their friends how nice, comfortable and fabulous it is to have food and drinks delivered people will be hooked!
If anything it will help weed out the loud annoying teenagers who disrupt movies just to be cool - gosh, I can’t wait!
this has been tried before and failed (though, the previous incarnation was on Aurora). I went once and found that eating and drinking while watching a movie was really distracting. If you think going to a theater now can be challenging with cell phones and people talking, imagine trying to watch a movie in an auditorium full of people eating dinner. It was a one and done experience.
It’s done now, at Central Cinema, just not in a "luxury" environment, and it’s plenty successful. It’s also only $5, usually. The price tag is the part I’m curious about.
Yeah they obviously did their research as to a good neighborhood to put it in. But seriously, $35? Economic crisis my butt.
I can’t stand to listen to people eating popcorn in theaters. An entire theater with people eating dinner? No way. People need to chew with their mouths clothes, kthanks.
As a Redmond resident, I’m scratching my head at this one for two reasons. First, Big Picture, one of the competitors to this type of idea, already has a location in Redmond Town Center. That’s quite the market to sustain two ‘luxury’ theater offerings. Second, fine dining in a movie theater. Please, tell me a capable chef willing to toss his pride into a plate where diners are absentmindedly inhaling fresh otoro to the tune of 10,000 BC.
The idea of a luxury theater isn’t off, when you account for the whole price of a movie experience. Tickets, drinks, popcorn, parking adds up to nearly $20- and people are still going in droves. Economics says that for double that price, certain individuals would be willing to pay a premium for the marquee experience. Works for cars, why not movies too.
It’s like paying extra to fly in first class: ultimately, you’re just there to watch a movie… which, if you’re willing to wait a few months for video release, you can do at home.
And if you’re there for the surround-sound big screen experience, think about what you’re paying an extra $25 a head for: cocktails… valet parking… maybe dinner. I mean, do you really need all those excesses just to enjoy a movie? Is it going to make the movie at all better?
I don’t know… if you find value in this sort of thing, then you and your careless tossing around of disposable income are probably part of the socioeconomic problem anyway.