has entered the summer season. In order to compete for the opportunity to meet more audiences in advance, many movies have started road shows across the country. In these roadshows, because of the presence of the main stars, movie ticket prices can easily reach hundreds or even thousands of yuan. In addition, scalpers sell tickets at high prices, making the high ticket prices of roadshow movies once again become a hot topic among netizens.
According to the Maoyan ticket purchasing platform, on July 4, during a road show of the movie " legend " in a theater in Chengdu, the ticket prices ranged from 499 yuan to 1,007 yuan.
html On June 17, the movie " hourglass " was held at a road show in a theater in Chengdu. The first row ticket price was 999 yuan, the second row ticket price was 899 yuan, and the third row ticket price was 799 yuan. On July 4th, the movie "Legend" "In a road show in a theater in Chengdu, according to the Maoyan ticket purchasing platform, the ticket price ranged from 499 yuan to 1,007 yuan; on July 6, a road show of the movie " Welcome to Me " was held in Qingdao , a movie ticket was sold by "scalpers" for 2,200 yuan. According to Maoyan Professional Edition data, the average ticket price in the mainland movie market in the first half of 2024 was 43.4 yuan, and the ticket price for roadshows was at least 10 times higher than the average ticket price. Who sets the road show ticket price? Can roadshows completely prevent scalpers? The Beijing News interviewed theater managers and some viewers to discuss the business behind movie roadshows.Who sets the ticket price for the road show?
Cinemas follow market conditions according to market conditions
Before each movie is released, a digital version of the film release notice will be issued, which includes box office settlement standards. According to the ticket prices of cities across the country, cities are divided into two categories: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen is Category A, and other cities and regions are Category B. For example, for the movie " Silently Kills ", the digital 2D ticket price is 40 yuan/person in category A and 35 yuan/person in category B. IMAX, Cinity2D, and China Giant Screen 2D have increased accordingly in the two categories of cities. 5 yuan/person.
However, there is a certain gap between the actual ticket price and the box office settlement standard on the release notice. According to Manager Xu of a theater in Shanghai, in Class A cities, the current minimum price for domestic films is basically around 40 yuan, and the minimum price for special effects halls is around 45 yuan. Even imported films have increased from 20 yuan to 25 yuan to 30 yuan. Cinemas can set their own prices based on market conditions. For example, if they encounter blockbuster movies or movies queued in VIP halls, the ticket price will be slightly higher than that of ordinary movies and ordinary cinemas. Basically, they will flexibly adjust ticket prices based on the movie situation and market feedback, and follow the market. . Audiences often see pre-sale ticket sales of 19.9 yuan on ticket purchase platforms such as Maoyan and Taopiaopiao. These are ticket replenishment activities conducted by the film studio, distributor or ticket purchase channel, and may appear to be lower than the minimum price. situation, but theaters cannot issue tickets below the price limit. Therefore, if the channel conducts a ticket grabbing activity of 19.9 yuan for a movie with a price limit of 40 yuan, then the organizer of the activity needs to subsidize 20.1 yuan per ticket. When theaters settle box office, they don't just settle based on the price limit. The price limit is just the bottom-line ticket price of a certain film. The portion above the price limit still has to be split with the theater studio.
Movie ticket prices will also fluctuate according to the schedule. Ticket prices for Spring Festival, May Day, National Day and other schedules will also be higher than usual. In short, ticket price setting and fluctuation are one of the means for each theater to maximize the box office. And for a roadshow movie ticket that can easily cost several hundred yuan, who decides the price? Manager Xu told reporters that the theater will price based on comprehensive considerations such as the quality of the film, the influence of the guests present, and the date and time of the road show. Generally, the consent of the Price Bureau and other departments is not required. Unless a road show leads to vote scalping or other malicious behavior, the Price Bureau may intervene.
Can theaters make money by hosting road shows?
Roadshow theater box office output can increase at least 7 times
How does a theater receive a road show for a movie? Manager Xu revealed that theaters receive road show information through channels such as film studios, distributors, film management headquarters, theater chains, etc., and the specific road show itinerary and other information are mainly communicated with local distribution personnel. Audiences can learn about the roadshow activities through the film’s official Weibo, Douyin, Xiaohongshu, and the theater’s official Weibo, official blog, and fan groups.The roadshow sessions of the
movie will be open for pre-sale on all platforms such as Taopiaopiao and Maoyan (except for roadshow reservations). Some seats for media, guests, etc. may be reserved for the roadshow sessions, and the remaining seats will be sold to the outside world. On the movie ticket purchase platform page, it is basically marked "Celebrity Meeting", and some also indicate which celebrities will be present. For example, during the Chengdu roadshow of the movie "Hourglass" in June this year, the discounts on the ticket purchasing platform listed the guests present: Qiu Tian, , and Huang Minghao .
The theater where Manager Xu works basically has at least one movie roadshow event every year. The film studio and distributor will provide a small number of event materials. If the theater wants to make the road show more popular, it can use the materials provided by the film company to design and produce it by itself, including But it is not limited to road show theme background boards, exhibition stands, floor stickers, hanging flags, advertising screens, wheat cards, commemorative ticket stubs, signed posters, etc. The box office revenue of
roadshow activities depends on the film and the main creative. If the main creative position is good, based on previous road shows, the average ticket price for a movie is 300-500 yuan, and a theater with 200 people will have a box office of about 60,000-100,000 yuan. If the ticket price of this theater is about 40 yuan for a normal show Price, the box office output of a single hall is about 8,000 yuan, and if it is replaced by a road show, the box office will be nearly 7 to 12 times higher. And if a traffic star comes to the road show, the ticket price can be doubled. However, popular celebrities will also put some pressure on the security system of the theater, because in addition to normal road show registration, they also need to provide emergency plans, alternative plans for artists' entry and exit routes, and hire a professional security team to perform full security work, etc. , to ensure that the road show proceeds safely and smoothly, there are advantages and disadvantages.
Can roadshow prevent scalpers?
If you can’t buy tickets under your real name, you can’t stop ticket scalping
Cinemas and film studios all want to maximize box office profits, which is also in line with market rules. In the eyes of fans, being able to communicate with their favorite artists up close is more It is a very rare thing. No matter how much money you spend, you are willing to do it. Behind the saying "Zhou Yu is willing to fight and others are willing to suffer", the more profits that make the ticket prices go up are often the scalpers' pockets.
For example, at a roadshow of the movie "Welcome to Me" in Qingdao on July 6, a movie ticket was sold by "scalpers" for 2,200 yuan. "Scalper scalping" is the most troublesome and difficult problem for theaters and film studios to solve. Manager Xu said that for popular films or road shows of high-profile creators, speed is also required to grab tickets, and some scalpers will also use their membership privileges to grab and hoard tickets. Fans or fans who did not grab tickets can only buy them at a premium through informal channels. At present, domestic theater roadshow activities have not yet implemented the real-name system, so it is unlikely to completely eradicate the scalping behavior. What theaters can do is to try to set roadshow ticket prices at a reasonable price, control the number of tickets purchased by members for a single show, do enough publicity in the early stage to let more fans and fans know about the roadshow activities, release tickets in batches, etc., and maximize the profits of scalpers. Space is reduced to a minimum to avoid box office losses. The
road show implements zone pricing. Because the first row is closest to the stars, it is a rare opportunity to chase stars up close, and the ticket price is the highest. During a road show of the movie "Legend" in Chengdu, the ticket purchase platform showed that the first row ticket price was 1,007 yuan, because the leading actor Zhang Yixing would be present to interact with the audience. During a road show of the movie "Welcome to Me" in Chengdu, the original price of the first row ticket was 499 yuan, which was finally sold to 2,200 yuan by scalpers. of "My Altay" is suitable for to participate in road show activities.
July 9, 2024, Shenyang, Liaoning, road show of the movie "Welcome to Me". Photo provided by ic
A reporter from the Beijing News interviewed several audience members at the road show of the movie "Welcome to Me". Among them, Xiao A is a fan of Yu Shi. She said that she came from last summer's " Gods No. 1" "" began to pay attention to Yu Shi, and at that time the film also launched a very lively national tour in the summer.Xiao A is more rational and does not spend so much money and energy chasing stars like other people in the fan group. "I don't think it's rational to spend hundreds of yuan per ticket." She also paid attention to the national road show schedule of the movie "Welcome to Me", but she still felt that it was not worth spending hundreds or even thousands of yuan to go to a road show. Regarding the question of who is cheaper due to the high ticket price of the road show, another audience member Xiao B said that although his income is very high, he also likes this film and often pays high prices for some films for some stars from scalpers. Roadshow tickets, but many times the big winner is scalpers. "I hope roadshows can be managed in a standardized way and try to avoid scalpers exploiting loopholes to hoard tickets and sell them at high prices. After all, the income brought by this part of the premium will go to theaters and film studios." You can't get it." Xiao C, who bought tickets from scalpers at a high price with Xiao B, also complained about the way the road show ticket prices were inflated by scalpers. "Why do you think it's cheaper for those scalpers? Ticket-purchasing software such as 12306 is becoming more and more standardized, which basically prevents train ticket sellers from making shady money. Can’t theaters learn from software like 12306 to use real-name ticket purchasing? "
As one of the traditional methods of movie promotion, a movie has Roadshows involving popular celebrities can fill the theaters and double the box office. However, roadshows with high ticket prices have gradually turned into a carnival for a small number of scalpers. This is a harm to the entire film market and industry. .
Beijing News reporter Teng Chao
editor Huang Jialing
proofreader Zhang Yanjun
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