Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Crackle, etc have changed the way we consume movies. And the traditional brick and mortar movie theater has suffered from it.

Theaters are trying new and innovative ways to get people back into the seats, from full range dinner service, to more leg room, and now: jungle gyms for kids! Huh?

Mexico City-based theater chain Cinepolis is bringing its domestically successful “Cinepolis Junior” concept for family films to the US. They introduced it in response to fluctuating attendance for kids films, and designed these special theaters to get everyone back in, instead of staying at home and watching Netflix, for instance.

The idea of the theater is a deceptively simple one: if your children are going to climb over all of the seats anyway, why not give them a place to do that without annoying everyone else? So, they’re spicing up the theaters with “a colorful play area near the screen in front of the seats, a jungle gym, and cushy beanbag chairs,” so their bad behavior is actually rewarded.

The first use of these theaters in Mexico also contained an intermission; a 15-minute bathroom/puking/parents taking a fifth of Jack break, but that doesn’t look to be coming to the US. Cinepolis is however considering keeping the lights on during films in US theaters, which is even more annoying than four year olds climbing all over the back of your seat.

If you like the idea of these theaters and want to experience them, you’d better live in Southern California. Only Cinepolis locations in Pico Rivera and Vista, California will have these new theaters, for now.

“It’s really intended to make kids feel welcome and comfortable,” said Cinepolis USA Chief Executive Adrian Mijares Elizondo. “The whole idea is to make it easier for parents to take their kids to the movies and let the kids have more fun.”

Cinepolis is no stranger to bad gimmicks in order to get people back to the theater for cheap Broadway tickets. They were one of the first to introduce beer and wine sales at the movies, and are one of the first companies to use 4DX experiences (fancy word for rumble seats). But the folks at Cinepolis seem to think this will also work, and they have some reason to believe it might.

“Some may argue that it’s disrespectful to the movie, but in this scenario it may be the best way for the kids to experience the film,” said box-office analyst Paul Dergarabedian of ComScore. “You might actually get more parents to come and bring their kids. Even in the greatest movies, kids get restless and bored.”

But the general public’s appetite for these new theaters doesn’t appear to match that sentiment, as the great folk of Twitter have showed us:

[AV Club/LA Times]

 

About Matt Lichtenstadter

Recent Maryland graduate. I've written for many sites including World Soccer Talk, GianlucaDiMarzio.com, Testudo Times, Yahoo's Puck Daddy Blog and more. Houndstooth is still cool, at least to me. Follow me @MattsMusings1 on Twitter, e-mail me about life and potential jobs at matthewaaron9 at Yahoo dot com.