AMC is charging moviegoers more for better seats. Brilliant bet or desperation?

Economics classifies this as "price discrimination" and variations of it show up in all kinds of ways (bulk purchasing, carnival tickets per ride + entrance fee, etc).

What typically gets missed in these business moves are the extremely negative PR that results from it and general negative consumer experience it causes. Airlines are prime examples of this, and only persist their existence by regulatory blockers to entry and occasional bailouts.

In short, desperation.

The movieplex closest to me just closed again. I believe this has happened at least once before in the past 5 years. The movieplex at the mall 15 miles away closed last year. We have a couple of historic theaters converted to movie houses that are within in 35 miles.