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http://retail.freedomblogging.com/2008/ ... ing-to-oc/

Wait, $35?

Yep. Gold Class Cinemas is negotiating with Triangle Square in Costa Mesa to open a movie theater charging as much as $35 a ticket, said Rob Goldberg, chief operating officer for Gold Class.

Expect to pay $35 for a new release on a Friday and Saturday night. On the low end, a matinee ticket is $25.

What do I get for that?

You can go online to pick your seats. Valet parking is included. Concierge services like remembering the exact Pinot Noir you ordered last time in case you want it again.

Want a $19 Wagyu steak sandwich? Or feeling chilly? Just ring a button from your seat and a waiter will come to fetch you that blanket and sandwich.


You can even coordinate when to get your food. Bring the dessert 15 minutes before the show ends, please.

The customer is “blanketed by service” carried out by folks who once worked for luxury hotels and fine dining restaurants, said Goldberg.

Yeah, those are nice perks. But $35?

And that price doesn’t include the fancy food (entrées range from $13 to $19) and drinks (bottles of wine range from $33 to $695). The menu lists 100 wines, 20 beers and cuisine like Ahi tartare on crostin, ricotta ravioli and Chinois chicken salad rolls.

Some folks may think this movie package is too expensive. To those people, Goldberg said: “They have to experience it. It’s just so different from a traditional cineplex.”

If the lease is signed, Goldberg plans to open the Costa Mesa theater in December 2009. The roughly 40,000-square-foot theater will have 8 screens and no more than 40 reclining arm-chair seats per screen.

The Gold Class movie theater, Goldberg said, is the typical theater size that fits hundreds of seats. Because there are fewer seats in a Gold Class theater, there’s 6 feet of space in front of you and every chair is one seat from the aisle.

Goldberg thinks Orange County can eventually support three to five Gold Class theaters. One of the reasons is that he recognizes the county’s high household median income. Gold Class’ target audience is an affluent customer ages 21 to 54 as well as corporate clients.

Village Roadshow Limited, an entertainment company that’s produced films, created Gold Class in Australia in 1997. Tickets for “The Dark Knight” and “Sex and the City” sold out weeks before they were released in Australian Gold Class theaters.

Gold Class, which has U.S. headquarters in Burbank, hopes to open as many as 100 theaters in the U.S. in the next 10 years. The first U.S. theater will open in South Barrington, llinois on Oct. 3 and the second U.S. theater will open in Redmond, Washington on Oct. 24.

Seems like an attempt to move the "Dinner and a movie" to one location... I don't see that place lasting too long.

ZYFER wrote:Seems like an attempt to move the "Dinner and a movie" to one location... I don't see that place lasting too long.

The concept of "Dinner and a movie in one location" is more successful than you might think. Although the service isn't quite as upper crust as mentioned and considerably less shocking to your budget, a local theater chain here has done very well here combining the two events into a one stop experience.

Alamo Drafthouse

I'm lucky enough to have one just a few blocks away. I've walked down the street more than a few times for "dinner and a movie"

I'm not saying it is a bad idea, I can kind of see the appeal of a less crowded theater alone. But with the economy in the shape it is, this is just one of the ideas that has bad timing.

maybe if that price included low end food

I've got a cousin who runs one of the original ones down in dc area. never been there though. he started out with movies and food, now he does music shows on the weekend.

he must be doing ok, because he's been doing it for close to 10 years

yeah I don't really see a mass market for this. If I was rich I'd rather just spend the cash on a great home theater setup and just use that...

it has its advantages, IMHO. if the food is good enough, it would be pretty decent, considering you'll drop $40+ on dinner somewhere anyway...so it would be nice to have it all-in-one.

other benefits would be (hopefully) far less teenagers constantly talking, using cell phones, texting, and throwing stuff during a movie. i would gladly pay an extra $5-$7 right now just for that alone. too many rude people these days to enjoy most movies, unfortunately.

I remember a few years back taking my entire family out for a flick - my wife and 3 kids. We sat behind 5 teenagers. I was putting up with their small talk before the movie, but 5 minutes into the movie, I simply had enough of their crap, so I turned around and said, SHUT THE HELL UP! IF YOU WANT TO TALK GO OUTSIDE! All the movie goers around me clapped, and they were quite during the rest of the movie. When it was over, we got up and I heard them finally ask each other, "were we loud?"
Now its worse with cell phones, and idiot parents who take a 1 or 2 year old to see a movie like Die Hard. Some people simply don't give a rats ass if you enjoy the movie or not at their expense.

Well, it those cases, it is a matter of respect. I have had no experiences like that at all from any of the times I have seen a movie in theaters. I always bring my cellphone with me, but always turn it off before the movie starts. That is what voicemail is for...

zyfer...that is amazing to even hear these days. i should move to Florida! haha

i can't even count the number of movies i've been to with rude people. the last one was "the plastic wrapper" offender...for (no joke) over half the movie. it was worse because it sounded like they were trying to crawl inside the bag...and it was a quiet movie (yup...a chick flick). all the better reason to not see chick flicks!