Famous Players doesn’t just want people to see Sideways. It wants people to see it two, three, maybe even four times, and it’s dropped the prices at its Ontario theaters to make it happen. The exhibitor chain announced late last month that it was knocking $4 off its general admission price – down to $9.95 – in hopes of drawing bigger crowds.

‘Attendance in general is down. It’s not falling like a stone, but it’s not growing,’ says president and CEO Robb Chase. Box-office figures have also, he adds, been propped up by inflated ticket prices for some time – not a stable formula on which to build the market.

‘That’s not a good system,’ he notes.

Chase hopes the cuts will bring people back for the same movie, again and again, a once-common habit that has dropped off dramatically, he says.

FP – the country’s largest exhibitor with 794 screens in 84 theaters – hopes to see an attendance boost of 10% to 15% over the year. The offer applies to all 17 of its first-run theaters in Ontario, but not its other 15 locations, which are already discounted.

Exhibitors are facing rising competition from DVDs, pay per view and other media camps, and have taken to experimenting with lower prices, a good idea according to Adina Lebo, executive director of the Motion Picture Theatre Association of Canada.

‘All good businessmen experiment with pricing,’ she says.

Cineplex-Galaxy has held its general admission below the $10 mark at most of its 40 Ontario theaters for years, and has seen positive results, says VP of communications Pat Marshall.

‘We pioneered this model five years ago and it’s worked very well. We do see an increase in attendance,’ she says.

The cuts are in effect for a few months, after which FP will assess the results and possibly make more permanent changes. FP has tested lower prices in smaller markets and saw encouraging results, says Chase, noting that those cuts are still in effect.

The cuts will not affect the number of screenings or number of titles playing at FP theaters, he says, adding that the studios are behind the idea.

‘What the studios have experienced is higher box office. The higher attendance offsets the reduction in price.’

According to recent Telefilm Canada stats, Canadian theaters took in $910.3 million last year, down slightly from 2003 and 2002.

-www.famousplayers.com