If you want to see The Batman at an Odeon cinema, you’re going to have to pay a little bit more for the privilege.
This one’s neither a surprising nor an unexpected story, but it continues to be a miserable one. The largest cinema chain in the UK, Odeon, continues to put an additional surcharge onto the ticket prices of big new blockbusters, with The Batman the latest example.
We reported back in September that Odeon had reintroduced its policy with No Time To Die, at a time when multiplexes were desperate to lure cinemagoers back to their screens. In Odeon’s defence, distributors charge more for their big movies in the first weeks of release, and so its costs are higher.
Less in its defence, the majority of its rivals don’t pass this onto their customers, and instead reap the benefits of getting people through the door buying overpriced fizzy drinks.
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In the case of The Batman, Odeon has imposed its maximum premium of £2.50 per ticket. That means, in our neck of the woods here in the West Midlands, it’ll cost you £13.50 to see the film against the price of something like The Duke.
It feels like hitting our heads against a wall with this, as we know nothing’s going to change. But still, it should be called out. It’s interesting that a similar policy being introduced in the US by Odeon’s parent company, AMC, is generating a lot of headlines. Whereas here in the UK, it’s becoming normalised.
The Batman opens on IMAX screens in the UK today, and widely – across multiplexes and independents on Friday. You can read our review of the movie here.
