By Michelle Doblanko
At first moviegoers clenched their fists and tolerated the annoying couple that chatters throughout the movie.
Next came the high-pitched rings of cell phones in the middle of an on-screen joke. Are moviegoers willing to endure the next coming distraction: sitting beside a drunken obnoxious patron guzzling beer and being disruptive?
Famous Players moviegoers may soon be allowed to wash down popcorn with a pint of beer or a glass of bubbly. Executives at Famous Players are now surveying Canadians nation-wide to find out whether they want to drink suds in their seats. But company executives should sober up before making any rash decisions.
The company says competition from entertainment venues, such as professional sporting events, is one of the reasons they floated the idea.
Hockey fans have been able to drink in the stands since the late ’80s.
But movies and sporting events have different atmospheres. At a sports game, the crowd makes noise, and is encouraged to get rowdy. At movies, viewers are expected to be close-lipped.
The second reason Famous Players wants patrons to sip in their seats is that their lounges have been successful and they want to boost the bottom line with more booze.
Since the ’90s, the company has been serving liquor in lounges attached to four of its theatres in Toronto, Montreal, Vaughan, Ont. and Langley, B.C. The new venture would allow patrons to enjoy a pint of beer, a glass of wine or a wine cooler while watching a motion picture.
Nuria Bronfman, a Famous Players spokesperson, says that alcoholic beverages will be served in a controlled environment. This includes having ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ movies running simultaneously. In Ontario, no one under the age of 19 would be allowed into the ‘wet’ screenings.
Security guards would check tickets to ensure minors don’t enter these rooms.
But fragmenting an audience doesn’t make fiscal sense. Suppose 50 people want to watch the same movie, now one theatre might have 35 in a ‘dry’ screening and 15 in the ‘wet’ show.
Keep the screening dry; everyone watches the same show and a different movie could be shown in the second theatre. This translates into more ticket and concession sales.
Then the theatres could continue to promote their lounges for an after-show drink.
It is not feasible that there will be enough people wanting booze to recover the costs of operating of setting this plan into motion.
Serving alcohol in the stands at sporting events may have been a success.
But, for now Famous Players should continue to promote their lounges and put a cork into the idea of letting patrons drink in their seats.