With Netflix and other streaming services increasingly becoming the major destination for movies, one that doesn’t require leaving the house, paying absurd movie-ticket prices, paying even more absurd concession-stand prices, and then sitting through a half-hour of trailers and commercials before the main feature, cinema owners have been left scrambling trying to figure out what to do. The major chains seem to be of two minds: either doggedly sticking to their business plan without addressing customer concerns (cost, poor projection, etc.), or trying to offer VIP service like tableside snacks or alcohol. However, Mexico-based Cinépolis thinks they have a game-changer.
The company is rolling out in-theater jungle gyms for kids in two of its California theaters next week, a concept they have already introduced at home and brought to Spain, Costa Rica, and Guatemala. For an extra $3 per ticket (of course there’s an extra surcharge!), parents can bring their kids to see “Ice Age 49” (or whatever) and rest assured that if they get bored, they can play on the slide or swings…leaving Mom and Dad to watch the movie? I’m not really sure how this works, but if your kid can’t sit still for an entire movie, or has energy that would be better spent in a park than in an auditorium, maybe don’t bring them to the multiplex? Call me crazy.
All the details are still being worked out, but Cinépolis is even considering leaving the house lights on during the movie so kids can more easily get up to go play. Again, kind of makes you wonder why the children and their parents are going to the movies in the first place.
“It’s really intended to make kids feel welcome and comfortable,” said Cinépolis USA Chief Executive Adrián Mijares Elizondo told The LA Times. “The whole idea is to make it easier for parents to take their kids to the movies and let the kids have more fun.”
I’m not sure who is having fun in this scenario: the parents who are essentially paying a bunch to let their kids play on a jungle gym next a movie screen, or the kids who would probably rather be outside than in a multiplex. But in the end, it’s probably Cinépolis, who have figured out another way to charge their customers big money for something they can get much cheaper elsewhere.