Now playing in Boston: movie tickets below $10

Greater Boston's largest movie theater chain has decided $10 is too much to pay for a movie theater ticket, at least for now.

AMC Entertainment just eliminated weekend premium pricing at the Loews theaters it recently acquired in Boston and at Liberty Tree Mall, rolling back prices on Friday and Saturday nights to below $10 for the first time in nearly five years.

An AMC spokeswoman said the elimination of Loews's premium pricing is an attempt to standardize rates across the 450-theater chain, the second-largest in the nation. She said AMC continues to charge more than $10 for tickets at select theaters in New York City and Los Angeles. At Lincoln Square in New York, the regular adult price is $10.75.

''AMC's recent price changes were a reflection of our need to synchronize the pricing models of AMC and Loews post the closing of our merger," said spokeswoman Melanie Bell. ''We looked at the overall landscape of the market and each individual theater."

The pricing shift at AMC comes after movie theaters saw attendance decline 7 percent last year. Theaters are also facing competition from other forms of entertainment and movie exhibition such as watching DVDs at home on a big-screen TV. Movie studios are even contemplating taking away one of the biggest advantages theaters enjoy, the first shot at screening new movies. Starting next month, for example, Comcast customers will be able to watch select independent films for $5.99 the same day they are released to theaters.

Jeanne Carol of Medford said she loves to go to the movies and would go more often if they were cheaper. ''At some point it becomes too expensive," she said. ''If the tickets were $10 apiece, I'd go even less than I do now."

By contrast, Stephen Walkauskas of South Boston said $10 for a two-hour movie is a pretty good bargain. He said the reason he rarely goes to the movies anymore is because the selection is so poor and it's much more relaxing to rent a movie at home. He is also starting to watch TV shows on his iPod.

''This is something I will do again and probably spend more on than going to the movies," he said.

The average price of a movie ticket has been steadily increasing for years, rising 15 percent between 2000 and 2004 to $6.21, according to the National Association of Theatre Owners. Data for 2005 will be released later this month.

The $10 movie ticket was once seen as an industry taboo, a threshold that consumers would not cross. But theaters in New York and Los Angeles pushed through the $10 mark in 2001, and the price point spread to a handful of other cities.

Boston theaters have moved cautiously toward the $10 mark. Many have raised their prices to $9.75, but few have gone further. When it first opened in July 2001, the Loews Boston Common theater charged $10 on Friday and Saturday nights, 50 cents more than its regular $9.50 price. The price later inched up to $9.75 weekdays and $10.25 on weekends. Loews also boosted weekend prices at its Liberty Tree Mall theater to $10.

National Amusements' Showcase Cinemas, the second-largest theater chain in this area, adopted a similar approach at theaters in Randolph and Revere in April, increasing the price 25 cents on weekend nights to $10. A company spokesman said the chain has no plans to roll back the higher weekend pricing.

''Basically, we have no way of knowing whether the price is affecting attendance," said Wanda Whitson, a spokeswoman. ''We have received no complaints about our prices."

Whitson said the Randolph and Revere theaters rank numbers two and three among Greater Boston theaters in attendance, trailing only the AMC Boston Common theater.

Movie theater chains are trying to figure out ways to lure people back, offering interactive video gaming, showings for new moms, special screenings of baseball games and concerts, and food that goes well beyond popcorn and soda.

During July last year, National Amusements gave nearly 1 million customers coupons good for $2 off a movie ticket purchased by early September. Whitson said ''the return rate was exceptionally high."

Perry Lowe, a professor of marketing at Bentley College in Waltham and a former theater operator himself, said it makes sense for theaters to adopt variable pricing, charging more at peak demand times and less at off-peak times. He said he suspects AMC's retreat from premium pricing is an attempt to appease antitrust regulators who have already forced the chain to divest 10 theaters, including the AMC Fenway 13.

''I wouldn't be surprised if after a reasonable amount of time the price went up again," Lowe said. ''The $10 barrier is more psychological, as opposed to real."

The elimination of premium pricing was one of several changes AMC put in place after the merger with Loews, including a $1 increase in the student price, a new senior age of 60 (AMC had been at 55, Loews 62), and off-peak pricing hours that end at 4 p.m. instead of 6 p.m. on weekends.

AMC also expanded its MovieWatcher incentive program to the entire chain. The program allows patrons to book tickets online without paying a service charge.

Bruce Mohl can be reached at mohl@globe.com. TICKET PRICES CHANGING YOUR MOVIE HABITS?

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