This announcement should not fail to react to all those who believe that cinema has become too expensive in France. The Pathé Parnasse has had a makeover in Paris and has just opened its doors. The price of full price tickets is 18.50 euros. For this amount, Aurélien Bosc, president of the cinema branch of the French group, promises: “It will be the first entirely premium Parisian cinema. »
An “upscale” assumed by Pathé
Paris: 18.50 euros for a cinema ticket at the new Pathé Parnasse
➡️ https://t.co/CaT0sadYdp pic.twitter.com/UyaQURtASY— France Bleu Paris (@francebleuparis) December 12, 2022
We sell seats “fully reclining, wider”. Similarly, a space of two meters between each row is provided. The rooms will only have 800 seats compared to 2000 previously. The idea is therefore to bet on the satisfaction of the spectators. An option fully assumed by Pathé who believes that if the prices are higher than elsewhere, they are “adapted to this new standard of comfort”.
There is no doubt that this strategy will not convince everyone, and in particular the French with modest incomes, whose leisure budget has been considerably reduced in recent years. However, it is assumed by the management of Pathé. As our colleagues from The Dispatchits president Jérôme Seydoux recently said he wanted to initiate “upmarket and modernization” cinemas in order “to make the difference”.
While the public has tended to shun theaters since their reopening, not sure that this strategy satisfies most people, but the idea is perhaps to rely on a minority of the public who can afford it, rather than remain on a target of massive cinema attendance. On the operators’ side, it is considered on the contrary that these increases are fully justified and necessary to allow the survival of these establishments.
In a YouGov poll conducted by the HuffPost last July, however, 57% of French people questioned cited too expensive tickets as the reason why they no longer went to the cinema. A finding that remained the same regardless of “their age group, their region or their CSP”, then reported our colleagues.
The price of the cinema ticket flies away
According to our estimates, a cinema ticket in France at the normal price costs on average 11.28 euros. At Pathé, the price of a place in Paris varies between 13.60 euros and 14.77 euros. Similarly, the price of a cinema ticket in inner Paris can reach 15.50, for 12.07 euros. The trend towards tariff inflation therefore clearly does not seem ready to stop. For more information, you can always re-read our survey.
For your part, what do you think of the level of prices at the cinema, and does this impact your attendance at cinemas? Tell us in the comments.
