TORONTO - Starting this week, movie buffs in Ontario will receive a temporary reprieve from high box office prices, as Famous Players experiments with lowering its admission prices. The cross-Canada theatre chain announced Wednesday that it will reduce its general admission price at Ontario theatres from a high of $13.95 to $9.95. Child and senior rates will remain unchanged at $8.50.
The drop, beginning Friday and continuing for an unspecified temporary period, follows successful price reductions at theatres in Calgary, Vancouver, Ottawa and Winnipeg in recent years.
The move is part of the company's continuing attempt to bring movie fans back into theatres and away from competitors, like movie rentals and pay-per-view broadcasts on satellite and cable TV, said Robb Chase, president and chief executive of Famous Players.
In the markets where the company has cut prices, attendance has risen by 10 to 15 per cent, Chase said.
"We've seen what it's done elsewhere," he told CBC News. "It's that much more important to our business when we bring it to Ontario because of the numbers involved and the magnitude of the business here."
The limited time price drop is also a way to establish a single general admission price over the course of the week. This, however, puts an end to the lower fares of so-called "cheap Tuesdays" and daily matinees.
DVDs are around $NZ 35... so, no recourse there....
A new CD is about $30NZ as well.
