Tickets for The Odyssey in Giant IMAX go on sale June 4 and will sell out in minutes. On eBay, resales are already appearing for $150. The box office will be a success, but the system will also be a success in the opposite sense: those with time and a fast connection buy; those without pay double or miss out entirely.
The Algorithm vs. the Viewer: Bots and Artificial Scarcity 🎟️
Reselling is illegal in many places, but no one pursues it without a law that truly prohibits it. Theaters look the other way, resale platforms collect commissions, and speculators rub their hands together. The real viewer ends up paying or losing the opportunity. The blame lies not only with resellers, but with a system that turns culture into a financial asset. The excitement of seeing a movie shouldn't be a battlefield of algorithms and purchasing bots, but it is as long as there is demand and a lack of control.
Box Office Success, Sanity Failure 🤖
Organizers prefer the headline of tickets sold out in seconds rather than limiting purchases per person or using fairer systems. This makes them seem more successful. Meanwhile, the viewer stares at their phone in anger and ends up paying $150 or missing out. Either way, the industry wins. And the experience loses. But hey, at least the bots have a great retirement plan.