How come a movie with a regular ticket price of around 30 yuan can be seen selling for 599 yuan on the ticket purchase platform, or even as high as 999 yuan? It turns out that the main creative staff of the film will attend the post-screening meeting to promote the film, commonly known as the "road show". Participating in the roadshow means getting closer to the creators, and you may be selected to ask questions and communicate face-to-face with the creators. This is a very tempting moment for many star-chasing fans.
With the rapid recovery of the film market this year, the film's creative team has frequently conducted offline road shows. Many fans travel across the city to chase stars like they are attending concerts, and road show ticket prices have also increased. Multiple second-hand trading platforms show that ticket prices for road shows with celebrities often run into hundreds or even thousands of yuan. Who is setting the price for the high-priced "road show" tickets? Who is profiting behind this? On March 13, the cover news conducted a follow-up report on this.
The Chengdu road show of the movie " Article 20 " was packed with seats
Prices range from hundreds to thousands of yuan
Movie "road show" ticket prices are rising
Movie road shows refer to the movie's creators traveling across the country according to the plan formulated by the distributor. Conduct offline promotional activities within the scope. The activities of the road show include post-screening meetings, media interviews, and exclusive interviews. The main creators have to visit many ticket-rich cities in a short period of time to build momentum for the film. The role of
roadshow in promoting movie box office and reputation is self-evident. " Fengshen Part 1 " road show, "Fengshen Proton Team" toured the country to interact with movie fans. If the good figures of the actors who practiced for the movie were the "point" that attracted the public at the beginning, as the movie became popular, the high-quality content of the movie itself became the new focus of the public, achieving fermentation at the box office.
However, with the popularity of movies, ticket prices at movie roadshows have also risen. In August 2023, when "Fengshen Part 1" went to Tianjin for a road show, many movie theaters marked the ticket price of 1,000 yuan. Some netizens complained: "Watching a movie and interacting with celebrities for 20 minutes is worth 1,000 yuan?" During the same period, the " or " road show in Chengdu had a movie ticket price as high as 599 yuan per movie in a movie theater.
Among the films released during the Spring Festival this year, " Mr. Red Carpet " Chengdu road show, with the lineup of Ning Hao and Andy Lau, also caused many movie theaters to offer ticket prices starting at 799 yuan. " Flying Life 2" Chengdu road show, Han Han , Fan Chengcheng and others appeared. The price of a ticket in a movie theater is 999 yuan. Fans who wanted to see the movie couldn't help but complain on social media: "Am I crazy or are they crazy?"
Who will decide the ticket price for the Chengdu road show of the movie "Flying Life 2"
road show?
Industry insiders: Cinemas set their own prices
Even if some people complain, they can see the main creators up close and possibly interact with them, which makes the ticket sales at the road show unabated. Searching social media, it is not difficult to find that many movie theaters are full soon after opening tickets. Movie fans need to set alarm clocks, download apps, or sign up for membership, just to spend hundreds of yuan to grab a precious seat for the road show.
The audience has been paying for the Road to the Cross for a long time. Who sets the road show ticket prices? Is there a way to go back to a price that's not too different from the normal fare?
Zhang Lan (pseudonym) was responsible for the distribution of a popular electronic fraud film last year. The other party told the cover news reporter that road show movie tickets are priced independently by the theater, "but if a popular artist appears, we will give the theater a maximum limited price, such as 599 yuan." The staff member said that considering the operation of the theater Cost, as well as the increased expenditures on security, publicity and other expenses due to the presence of the main creator, "I think the price is a bit higher, which is acceptable."
Another distributor staff member Li Feng (pseudonym) told the cover news reporter that the company and the film studio will reach a consensus on the theater’s ticket price, and the theater will set its own price within the agreed price. "The films we distribute generally require the theaters to charge a maximum ticket price of no more than 300 yuan. This is when extremely popular actors appear." The staff member said that for road shows, they pay more attention to word of mouth, and the ticket price is too high. Gao will be harmful to the feelings of movie fans and the reputation of the movie. This is a situation they do not want to see.
In order to allow more movie fans to buy roadshow movie tickets, when Li Feng communicates with the theaters, he will ask all roadshow theaters to issue tickets at the same time, "In this way, the theater will know the prices of other theaters when issuing tickets. Try to hope Don’t raise the ticket prices too high.”
“Scalpers” are eyeing movie roadshows
Prices are comparable to concerts
As roadshows become more popular, there are also “scalpers” eyeing movie tickets. Many media reported that many road show tickets for movies appeared on Moments or second-hand trading platforms, and the prices were staggering. In February this year, the movie " I lost you " was going to have a road show in Chengdu. Because he admired one of the actors, Chengdu movie fan Wang Le (pseudonym) asked to buy movie tickets on social platforms.
At the Chengdu premiere of the movie "I Lost You"
Wang Le told the cover news reporter that at that time, all the tickets for the Chengdu road show of the movie were not sold, but were open to movie theater groups, who obtained admission through free recruitment. Field qualifications. However, due to the limited number of places, while signing up for the movie viewing group, Wang Le also searched for other ways to enter the venue on the second-hand trading platform. "The number of places to bring in ranges from 1,000 to 1,500." Wang Le recalled that the price of watching Jay Chou's movie roadshow a few years ago cost more than 200 yuan. "Now the price of watching a movie roadshow is really about the same as watching a concert."
Searched for road show tickets on the second-hand trading platform, the price exceeded a thousand yuan App screenshot
How did "scalpers" get road show tickets? Li Feng, a staff member of the publisher, told the cover news reporter that on the one hand, after obtaining a quota through a movie viewing group, someone will sell the tickets; on the other hand, scalpers will also grab tickets on the official platform of the theater and sell them at a high price, or Increase the price to grab a good spot. In addition, theaters may also lock prime locations and sell these tickets with cash tickets, high-priced tickets, or specific packages.
Cinemas respond to high ticket prices:
Invisible costs are “unseen”
Why is the price of a road show with the participation of the main creator so high as hundreds of yuan? Wang Xiang (pseudonym), a staff member of a theater in Chengdu, told the cover news reporter that the main creator came to the local area to run different road shows. When other theaters sold tickets at higher road show prices and sold well, many other theaters They will naturally follow up: "For example, if a theater sells 499 or 599, your 199 or 299 cannot be sold." On the one hand, theaters have the need to make money; on the other hand, theaters do not dare to “fall behind” in terms of pricing.
has road shows with the participation of main creators, and theaters need to invest different costs. Wang Xiang revealed that if the main creator is present, the studio will not only arrange more staff, arrange lounges, etc., but also produce different types of physical promotional materials. In addition, some movie tickets used to invite guests are mostly responsible for the cinema.
Wang Xiang and his colleagues have received many complaints from the audience about the high ticket prices of road shows. But as the movie market becomes more and more prosperous, no one in this industry may be willing to say "lower" the price of road show movie tickets.
Road show ticket prices are so high, will it be harmful to the development of the film market? Wang Xiang said frankly: "The pricing of roadshow prices is a market behavior. The supply and demand are different between the shows where popular artists appear and the shows where non-traffic artists appear. The input costs are different, so the ticket prices will be different. Except for a small number of roadshows with higher ticket prices. Outside the venue, there are many road shows that can be attended at the cost of ordinary movie tickets. Consumers can choose the number of movie viewings according to their needs and (decide whether to) pay for it."
html On March 13, a cover news reporter based on the clues in the interview Call 12315 to provide feedback on this situation. The wiring staff reported that if the movie roadshow ticket sales platform clearly marked the price, consumers could choose whether to buy it. If consumers want to complain because the road show price is too outrageous, they can submit the name of the complainant. The relevant departments will verify and handle it, and notify the specific results within 5 working days.Text and photo/cover news reporter Zhou Qin
editor/Cui Wei
