Cinema chain Cineworld has pulled in more than 300,000 UK cinemagoers so far through its £1 per ticket ‘Family Films’ initiative, running July 25-August 28 in England and Wales.
Families of four have been able to attend morning screenings of recent hits such as The Wild Robot, Sonic The Hedgehog 3, Moana 2 and A Minecraft Movie for a combined cost of £4. (The scheme started earlier in Scotland.)
”We are just trying to be price sensitive during a period when families struggle the most to find value in getting out of the home,” explained Stuart Crane, international vice president of content for Cineworld Group Plc.
“Average ticket prices have been climbing for 10 to 15 years now. So whilst box office looks stable, admissions are likely to be declining, and one of the areas that we felt had been very underserved regarding ticket value was the family audience,” Crane added.
“We know we’re not going to make lots of money doing this, but if we can bring more customers through our doors, the hope is that they will see trailers for future movies and come back and watch them. We are just trying to get people back into our screens and feel that love of the cinema again.”
Crane said distributors had been “very supportive” of the Family Films scheme. The hope had been to get 100,000 admissions but the initiative is now on track to pass 500,000 by the end of the summer.
“With how successful it has been, I don’t see a world where we will not continue it in some capacity. It would be a real shame to lose the momentum we have gained with the family audience these past few weeks.”
It is one of several ticket price-cutting schemes hatched by UK exhibitors to keep cinemagoing affordable for families during the summer months.
Cineworld has also been running a £5 ‘family blockbusters’ scheme throughout August in which films including How To Train Your Dragon, Lilo & Stitch and Elio have been available at £5 a ticket.
Other exhibitors are offering similar discounts. Odeon has its ’Family & Child’ and ‘Kid’ screenings while Vue offers its Kids Pass.
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