You’re going to be paying an extra couple of quid if you want to see No Time To Die at Odeon Cinemas in its first week at least, it seems.
Well, this is disappointing. With cinemas hoping to attract people back in more and more numbers over the coming months, all eyes are on next week’s James Bond movie – No Time To Die – to see if it can give the box office a further shot in the arm.
Cinemas around the UK, which have been open since the spring following the latest lockdown, have of course struggled to get people back in the same kind of numbers as before. Occasional hits are giving cause for hope, and No Time To Die is arguably the biggest movie to be released exclusively in cinemas post-the lifting of lockdown restrictions.
Odeon Cinemas, meanwhile, has decided to use the occasion to reintroduce its blockbuster premium charges. For those unfamiliar with this, the chain was adding a surcharge of up to £2.50 per ticket for those of us who want to watch new releases on their first week or two of release. After a few weeks, variable by release, the surcharge is then dropped.
In the case of the new Bond, it’s gone in for the full whack.
A standard seat for the new Bond film in the afternoon at my local is £13.50. And I live just outside Dudley (I like the place, but it’s hardly the West End). The evening showings also, inevitably, have the same premium attached.
On the same night, Marvel’s Shang-Chi costs £11.00 for a standard adult ticket. The 007 movie is thus having a £2.50 per ticket premium added, if you want to watch it in an Odeon cinema in its opening week. This is being reflected in other Odeons as well from what we can tell. Thanks to Brendon Connelly for giving us the heads up on this.
It’s business as usual for Odeon then. Other multiplexes and independent cinemas, we should note, are available.
UPDATE: As has been pointed out to us, film studios charge cinemas more for films in their first few weeks. Quite what demands Universal has put on cinemas are the unknown in all of this, and happy to acknowledge this.
Image: BigStock
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