Standard Hoyts movie theatres get luxury upgrade with reclining chairs and hot food

MOVIEGOERS are getting more bang for their buck with powered reclining chairs turning once-cramped standard cinemas into deluxe movie destinations.

Mates Alvin Webster, Daniel Walker and Georgia Worswick enjoy the reclining chairs with food and drink in the cinema at Hoyts Eastland. Picture: Eugene Hyland

MOVIEGOERS are getting more bang for their buck with powered reclining chairs turning once-cramped cinemas into deluxe destinations.

For the price of a standard admission ticket, Hoyts are rolling out an upgrade that will see regular cinemas have reclining seats and a menu that includes gourmet hot food and alcohol.

Hoyts Group CEO Damian Keogh said the upgrade was the biggest shake-up to the sector since the introduction of Lux and Gold Class cinema.

“We think this is the future of cinema,” he said. “People are happy to pay for value; they are happy to pay for great experiences.”

He said the increased value and comfort also helped counter the rise of home entertainment services such as Netflix.

Hoyts Frankston and Hoyts Eastland were the first to get recliners in every cinema last year.

A revamped Hoyts Chadstone with recliners will open in October, and Greensborough and Victoria Gardens will follow suit in November.

“By the end of the year, 17 of our 39 (cinema complexes) in Australia will be (fitted with) recliners,” Mr Keogh said.

The upgrade means the cinemas will lose about 40 per cent of their seating capacity.

“But we have seen some very strong early results on these cinemas in terms of uplift in box office and frequency, which has justified the investment,” he said.

Keogh said the introduction of hot food at Hoyts Eastland has been a hit, with the All American Classic Hot Dog ($8.90), Shoe String Fries ($4.50), Wedges with sour cream ($8.90) and BBQ Meatlovers pizza ($9.90) proving the most popular.

Village Cinemas general manager of sales and marketing Mohit Bhargava said it was looking at multiple seating concepts rather than just one.

“We recognise that our millennial guests, for example, get stimulated and excited about very different seating formats to guests looking for a more mature and comfortable offering,” he said.

In addition to VMax, which has bigger seats and screens in an arena format, VPremium was launched at Jam Factory last year.

“It is designed to sit somewhere between regular cinema and Gold Class, where it’s couple seating; the seats are bigger and they are plush,” Mr Bhargava said.

“Everyone has access to aisles; a lot of our guests appreciate that because they don’t have to walk across other people.”

VPremium cinemas will be installed at Westfield Southland and Westfield Plenty Valley in South Morang later next year. However, tickets cost $2-4 more than a standard ticket.

Mr Bhargava said the big development for Village Cinemas was the trial of an app at the Jam Factory, which allowed customers to pre-order their food and drinks on their mobile phone to avoid a queue.

“The intention is that based on the leanings we get from the trial that we look to offer that capability to a vast majority of our guests,” he said.

Most Village Cinemas sell hot food, but the point of difference is Indian food for patrons watching Bollywood movies at Sunshine Cinema and Asian food for those seeing Chinese films at Village Century City, Glen Waverley cinema.

Mr Bhargava said Village will extend their licensed sites from Rivoli, Crown Casino and the Jam Factory to other cinemas across Victoria by July 2017.

Palace Cinemas, which had the first fully licenced cinemas, also had plans to offer moviegoers more.

Palace Cinemas spokeswoman Caroline Whiteway said “more substantial food offerings” were on the cards, but she could not reveal more until later in the year.

“Obviously there is the competition of Netflix, which is absolutely something to be considered,” Ms Whiteway said.

“And also people are time poor. I think that above and beyond having a wonderful experience with food and film, it’s no longer just a financial commitment seeing a film, it’s a time commitment.

“I think the cinema industry as a whole is moving towards that strategy (increased comfort and food) to be more competitive.”