Going to the movies used to be an easy sell of an activity because it was affordable, but these days it can easily cost $40 a person, once you buy a ticket and concessions. That results in consumers being understandably more picky when it comes to deciding which one of the 2026 movie releases they’ll support. So, comedian Nate Bargatze is hoping to get more butts in the seats of his upcoming comedy, The Breadwinner, by reducing ticket prices, and I checked it out.
What Is Nate Bargatze’s ‘Nate Rate’?
On Friday, Nate Bargatze, who recently MC’ed the Emmys and has hosted SNL a couple of times, took to Instagram to announce that his movie will be available to see at a reduced rate at some movie theaters/showtimes. You can check it out below:
The movie itself is about the father of three kids who becomes the stay-at-home dad when his wife lands a deal with Shark Tank that takes her away from her typical mom duties. Since it’s a family comedy that isn’t at the level of heavy-hitters like The Super Mario Galaxy Movie or a Pixar film, he knows it’s harder to take the whole family out to see it, but is hoping to help out with this “Nate Rate.”
What Happened When I Looked Into It
I was curious what the “Nate Rate” means exactly, and took a deep dive into what the reduced rate really is. Per The Hollywood Reporter, AMC Theatres has officially agreed to lower its prices for the movie, specifically making all the showtimes the same as matinee prices. I checked this out myself, and apparently, matinees these days are around $15, and the evening prices for upcoming showtimes in my region were the same no matter the time.
The other theater chain that is also playing along is Cinemark, which “may discount prices by as much as 25%.” When I looked at their website, I saw something very similar: matinee pricing for every showtime, regardless of the time. I also went on Regal, and I’m seeing something similar on their site, too.
This initiative definitely reminds me of what happened with the 2023 crowd-pleaser 80 For Brady when Paramount offered discount tickets to encourage more seniors to get out of their homes and support the comedy. It led the movie to make $40 million worldwide, which was deemed a success, partially due to its ticket initiative.
While the savings as opposed to a normal movie ticket amount to maybe $3 to $5 in savings, it’s definitely nice of the comedian to do what he can to make his movie more accessible to its audiences. Tickets for The Breadwinner are currently on sale, with the movie hitting theaters on May 29.
