Everyone who has armchair-theorized why movie theaters don’t sell assigned seats in advance is now obligated to explain why this has changed and how that’s consistent with their model.
I will start. My theory was based on the value of advertising to movie-goers who must arrive early to get preferred seats and then are a captive audience. This has become significantly less valuable now that said movie-goers can bring their own screens and be captive to some other advertiser.
Indeed today at the movies we arrived on time to our assigned seat, there were no ads and just a few previews. (Spoiler alert: the movie with Stringer Bell and the Titanic girl is going to suck, Bladerunner is going to be great and Wonder Woman was awesome for the first and last 10 minutes but apart from that was basically Splash meets Hot Lead and Cold Feet.)
Cheap Talk 
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June 12, 2017 at 8:08 am
brunosalcedo
I had the impression that streaming and better TVs has something to do something with it. I don’t want to stand in line for an hour (which is what you had to do in Mexico City before they started selling assigned seats) if I can watch the same movie in my living room.
June 12, 2017 at 1:10 pm
Why do American movie theaters now have assigned seats? - Marginal REVOLUTION
[…] Jeff Ely has a hypothesis: […]
June 12, 2017 at 10:47 pm
Enrique Guerra-Pujol
Nice theorizing, but does anyone actually sit in their assigned seat?
June 14, 2017 at 12:21 pm
Enrique Guerra-Pujol
On a related note: economists can’t even give a convincing answer as to why popcorn costs so much more at movie theaters. Eric Helland, for example, once told me that it was because of “clean up costs.”
May 27, 2018 at 11:47 am
Joe Donot Want YourEmail
nope
June 24, 2017 at 1:53 am
Mary
It’s a joy to read. I do had similar through after reading few news on Instant Forex Support forum.
June 25, 2017 at 8:17 am
cinema goer
“Everyone who has armchair-theorized why movie theaters don’t sell assigned seats in advance is now obligated to explain why this has changed and how that’s consistent with their model.”
Is there some US-specific variation in the pricing model? In Sweden, it’s basically only at independent cinemas (and possibly arts festivals) that you can buy a movie ticket that lacks a seat reservation. I’m not even sure if the (near-monopolist) SF chain’s booking system allows for tickets without an assigned seat. If I’m not mistaken, this has been the case for at least the last decades.
July 9, 2017 at 8:47 am
nobody
In Israel, seats are assigned in all theaters and have been for decades.
May 27, 2018 at 11:46 am
Joe Donot Want YourEmail
Assigned seats mean I can’t just move when I find that my neighbors are obnoxious (talking loud, arguing, coughing, texting, flailing around, belching, farting, throwing stuff, hiccuping, smell bad, won’t take off their hat and block my view). Another reason to move is that the management has decided we need those dozen or so extra decibels of volume to get the very best movie-going experience. Moving might let me find a spot that is a wee bit quieter. I know this is a vain hope in many theaters, of course, but I like to have that freedom.