It’s no small task. Most know by now that the movie theater industry has been through some considerable struggles in the past few years. MPAA statistics show that theater admissions in North America have been flat in recent years. In 2015, 1.32 billion tickets were sold in the United States and Canada, a bit up from the year before, but down from the 10-year high of 1.42 billion in 2009.
New York City–based startup Atom Tickets, a social ticketing mobile app and website, is looking to put butts back into movie theater seats. Atom Tickets estimated that about 5 billion seats go unsold in the 43,000 movie theaters in the U.S. each year.
Atom Tickets hopes it can fill an additional 2 to 5 percent of unpurchased inventory, which could add millions to box office and concessions revenue. The company recently secured backing from J.J. Abrams, Steven Spielberg and Tyler Perry — the three are reportedly joining Atom Tickets’ advisory board, said the New York Times, with Abrams and Perry additionally becoming stakeholders in the company.
Atom’s app currently services 15,000 theaters, with plans to grow considerably throughout 2017. Though far fewer than ticketing big dog Fandango’s 28,000 theaters and Facebook integration, Atom Tickets’ design may give it a leg up on the competition. The app uses predictive data analytics to suggest films based on previous orders and information from users’ linked social media accounts.
Atom’s app lets users send online invitations to others and facilitates shared payments among groups. Atom also gives group discounts for less popular showtimes and sells concession stand pre-orders along with merchandise.
By the company’s estimate, over 80 percent of’ its current users are ages 18 to 39. Atom Tickets is free for users to download and collects a surcharge on ticket sales. Film studios can also hire the company to promote new releases.
It’s yet to be clear how this newest addition to the social commerce game of movie ticket sales will fare against legacy online box offices or if it will fill a portion of those 5 billion unsold seats. But early estimates from Atom Tickets say that theaters have already started seeing considerable growth since adopting the app.