There was covid, the explosion of streaming platforms and telecommuting and, now, tensions over purchasing power and inflation caused by the conflict in Ukraine.
Across the world, cinema managers and distributors are looking for ways to bring audiences back to levels comparable to 2019. In England, Curzon Cinemas cut it short and chose to lower ticket prices.
"We want to make regular cinema attendance affordable for everyone and nurture a new generation of moviegoers,"
Philip Knatchbull, CEO of the movie theater chain, said on Twitter.
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Curzon now offers sessions between 10 and 12 pounds sterling (equivalent to a ticket between 11.70€ and 14€) in its London rooms and between 8 and 10 pounds in other rooms in the country.
A significant reduction since the price of a ticket at the Curzon Bloomsbury in London, for example, was in general set at £17.50, according to
ScreenDaily
.
The cinema chain has also introduced a free subscription for those under 25, giving them access to £5 tickets from Monday to Thursday.
This new fee schedule comes in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis, during which Philip Knatchbull says he noticed
“significant changes in the way customers interact with our establishments”
.
"With the increase in home working and the ongoing crisis in the cost of living, cinema risks becoming the preserve of blockbusters
," he said.
“But there is a wide range of brilliant films available and we want to make sure that regular cinema attendance remains affordable”
.
If blockbusters, like
Top-Gun: Maverick
currently, are among the films shown in the twenty or so Curzon theaters across the country, these also offer a wide range of independent films.
“Attracting a new generation of moviegoers”
With its offer for the under 25s, Curzon hopes to
"attract a new generation of film lovers"
and thus allow the youngest to access a hobby that is sometimes considered a luxury today.
"It is clear that the younger generation has been the most affected economically by the events of recent years",
explains Philip Knatchbull.
A way also to show that the announced death of dark rooms since the arrival of video on demand platforms like Netflix is not for now.
The solution to the drop in cinema attendance could indeed come from the youngest.
Read alsoCinema: how to stop the decline in attendance
“When the rooms reopened in June 2021, the first to rush were the 15-24 year olds,
also reminded
Le Figaro
Sylvain Bethenod, founder of Vertigo, a study institute specializing in leisure.
They dreamed of leaving their homes.
Watching content on platforms alone has limits.
Today more attracted by superhero films and other blockbusters, a drop in prices could guide them towards other cinematographic horizons.
The change in customer habits pointed out by Philip Knatchbull is not an English exception.
"It's a global subject"
also declared to
Figaro
Marc-Olivier Sebbag, secretary general of the FNCF (National Federation of French Cinemas), last April.
While Europe recorded a dark year in 2021 with a 60% drop in attendance over the year, 2022 does not seem to be off to a better start.
With a drop of 41.6% in January 2022 and as much in February compared to the same months of 2019, French cinemas are struggling to fill their rooms, with the exception of Hollywood blockbuster sessions which monopolize the top 20 most viewed films like the selections for official competitions.
Read alsoFor Jérôme Seydoux, French cinema must get rid of its dogmas