Is it allowed?

Just a dumb question that I never found the answer to for many years... hopefully this will answered here... I searched the internet and even signs in movie theaters and cinemas.

Is it allowed to watch 2 or more movies in a cinema when you only paid for one? If yes, how do they make money out of it when people can just watch to their hearts delight so many movies for less than 10 bucks?

no, i mean... im not saying i've never done it lol, but i think the right thing is to purchase a ticket for both shows, your not paying an entry fee, your paying for the showing of the film

Of course it's not 'allowed'. You pay to see one showing of one film, jeez this is a business not a charity.

No. iIf you are caught you will be kicked out, and not allowed in that particular theater ever again. All depends on the theater you go to. I work in a theater and have kicked out plenty of teenagers sneaking in the building and/or sneaking in from one theater to another.

I have only done this once and i was sooo nervous I couldn't enjoy the 2nd movie because, it is not right

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It is wrong. I would hate it if someone ripped my business off.

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It is definitely wrong... and to me, the answer should have been obvious...

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Same here, i've caught countless people trying to sneak into movies they don't have a ticket for. Then you got the "crafty" crooks who pick up a ticket on the floor but little do they know the time of the movie is on the ticket aswell, ha BUSTED!

answer

NO!

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yeah i thought so too and honestly i have been planning to do it since i have been allowed to watch movies by myself. And that was what.... many many years ago. The only thing that prevented me is the thought that if I got caught (if ever it is not allowed), it would not be worth it.

yup, it may be very obvious but come to think of it if there is no rule posted anywhere, how would one know? we cannot all 'assume' that everyone has the conscience and not do it, right?

after so many years and so many movies and different theaters, i noticed other people do it. And even up to this time i cannot find anything that says it is NOT allowed. they should put something up like a sign somewhere like in the ticket booth. i mean common sense is pretty much NOT that common at all.

my take is, the movie theater people (owners and those working in cinemas) know this. I think they just do not bother (depends on which cinema you go as jrs has said) because (i assume) they make their profit anyway. come to think of it, why would you design a cinema in such a way that people can just transfer from one movie to another? and to make it worse, tickets are collected at the main entrance and no signs saying that you cannot move from one to another.

hmmm... i am too ashamed to ask them and i am too nervous to try it. i just hope someone can give light on this or at least point to documented rule or law... thank you all for the replies.

OK so it's wrong. But is it right to charge $8 for a lg popcorn, $6 for iced down soft drinks and $3 for a "family-sized" Kit KAt? The combination I've just described costs pennies to make, and I'm sure a reasonable profit would still cut the bill in half!
Who's really getting ripped off!?

And if you say you bring your own snacks, isn't that just the same as sneaking into another auditorium?

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r66-The member who always asks WHY?

I think the issue is ripping off people involved with the actual film you're sneaking into.

Not greedy theater managers. Folks don't care about them. You can bring as many junior mints into the theater as you want. Just make sure your kids have deep pockets.

This is suspect reasoning. You can't justify doing something wrong because you've determined that it is conceivable that someone -- someone other than yourself, in this case -- might not know its wrong. That gives you deniability if you get caught and choose to lie; not moral authority to do it in the first place.

Anyway, I'd be shocked if there were nothing anywhere about theater-jumping, but you don't need an explicit sign to know it's against the rules. Why else would you buy a ticket to a specific film? Almost every theater I've ever been to has had the name of the film printed on the ticket, as well. That's pretty explicit.

"Make their profit"? Profit is not a binary switch. You can make more or less. Anyway, I'm sure plenty of employees are lax about security. But security is lax in all sorts of places. Whether or not a theater has factored illegality into things is irrelevant when determining whether or not its okay to do it. I'm sure convenience store owners expect a degree of theft, but that doesn't make it okay. And speaking of which, have you ever seen a convenience store with a sign that says "Don't steal anything"?

They probably believe (rightly, I'm sure) that it costs more to put ticket-takers at every entrance. And when you think about the structure involved, I have to imagine a theater which broke off into different areas -- one per movie -- would prove impractical and expensive in comparison. Most theaters, then, have likely decided that the cost of fraud is dwarfed by the cost of irregular construction and/or extra hours for ticket-takers.

It's clear you're looking for moral wiggle room, but there really isn't any. You know it's wrong, or else you wouldn't have even asked, to my mind.

I'm pretty annoyed at concession prices, myself, so I don't want to sound like some sort of apologist...but from what I understand of theater economics, most lose money on the films themselves (even at current ticket prices) and make up for it on concessions. Which is exactly a pretty good deal when compared with the alternative (cheaper foods, higher tickets), because the current situation at least affords people an option as to whether or not to cover those costs.

I could be mistaken, but I recall reading something like the above while learning a bit about how film distribution works a couple months ago.

People don't need rules posted everywhere to tell them what's right surely? Seems pretty obvious to most people - you buy a ticket to see a specific film, you don't buy a ticket that says 'stay all day you can watch what you want'.

Put it this way, if you were in a self service cafe and went and bought a coke and a cake, would you then feel entitled to go up a second time and help yourself again without paying?

I think I read the same thing somewhere. But I think an 800% profit at the concession stand is way more blatant a crime than seeing two pictures for the price of one. Especially when the film costs 100 million dollars to make and they only charge $8-$12 at the box office.

You may be right about that, Tim. Like I said, I don't want to become an apologist for concession prices. The markup might be ridiculous even after factoring the losses in...I couldn't say. I have to suspect its not much higher than is necessary to offset them, however, or else surely an enterprising entrepreneur would have taken advantage of the situation by now. But I digress, and my unwavering faith in capitalism is showing.

I'll also not dispute the idea that, if the prices are too high, that it's relatively worse than sneaking a second film in. It certainly is. The difference, of course, is that nobody has to buy the snacks if they don't want to. The "no outside food" restriction does put a twist on that, but I still think it's apples and oranges. We can boycott concessions by not purchasing them; a theater has no clear, matching recourse to take against people who sneak in a free show.

Yeah that's how it works Yoda. My friend is a cinema manager in Illinois and it works the same over here too.

Anyway I'm quite happy to see people spending loads of money on popcorn and coke as long as my tickets don't get too expensive

Some theaters like the ones I work(ed) at keep track of how many enter each theater, and how many are seating in each one as each film is playing.

Those who spend $$$ on one ticket I am sure can obviously spend $$$ on another. If not, go home and watch a DVD.

@Yoda.. yes, i must admit that i am looking for some wiggle room since i cannot do it because of my conscience. i see others do it and yet i cannot because i 'FEEL' that it is wrong.

unlike a DO NOT STEAL sign; every state has a law against theft... including laws on shoplifting, breaking and entering, trespassing, armed robbery, piracy etc. that is why convenience store owners do not need to put up a sign because there is a law, a written document that says it is wrong or unlawful. but is there a law that forbids theater jumping? that one i am really curious to know.

like there is no law saying sneaking food into theaters is wrong, there is always a sign in every cinema or theater i have been to saying that 'bringing of food is not allowed'. again that makes it clear.

so i guess the only rule is...'follow your conscience'. if you feel it is wrong the do not do it. most would agree that it is wrong (including me), it is just sad that majority do not know if there is documented rule or not. From the various responses here, i gather that we only 'feel' it is wrong and not really know that a rule exists. no offense.

i think the only way to look at this is: if 'others' do it, that does not make it right... but that does not make it wrong either.

Your conscience should tell you it is wrong. You don't need a documented rule for that. It's common sense. You're causing the box office a loss of $$.