Microsoft and MovieTickets.com to Bring Movie Ticket Purchases to Xbox LIVE

By Evan Selleck/July 20, 2010 2:31 pm EST

You've secretly wanted it. It's been one of those things you've been pining for, maybe even subconsciously, ever since you signed up for Xbox LIVE. Right there next to ordering your favorite pizza from your couch, through the Xbox 360's Dashboard. You see an advertisement for an upcoming movie, maybe it even opens up the day you see the ad, and you suddenly realize you want to buy a ticket, right then and there. Well, thanks to some new-fangled agreements between Microsoft and MovieTickets.com, that's one step closer to actually happening.

The two companies announced today that the agreement will usher in a new solution for online movie ticketing issues, all brought to you through Microsoft's Xbox LIVE service. According to the press release, Xbox LIVE members are now able to make mobile movie ticket purchases. How? By either texting-in, or viewing a Microsoft Tag in a movie studio advertisement. Once you click on some kind of major movie production's ad, you'll be able to interact with it in a brand new way, seeing a lot more information than we previously could. Or maybe you even want to.

"Working with Microsoft and the Xbox brand exposes MovieTickets.com to an entertainment-driven audience, providing the perfect opportunity to engage like-minded users with our online movie ticketing solutions," said Joel Cohen, CEO, MovieTickets.com. "We're excited to be the first company allowing users the opportunity to interact with a movie advertising experience on Xbox LIVE and easily convert it into an online ticket purchase via their mobile device."

How will you be able to get your movie ticket? Well, that will require the Microsoft Tag. Which means you'll have to have a mobile phone that takes advantage of that, too. Which, oddly enough, the press release didn't clarify at all. But, once you get all of that straightened out, you'll be taken to a co-branded website on your mobile phone, where you'll be able to actually buy your movie ticket. Finally. One last thing: your local movie theater will have to be a partner of MovieTickets.com, too. So, just another step. It's a cool idea, but there seems to be a lot that customers will have to do before they get their movie ticket bought. At this rate, they could've just went to the theater. Full press release is below.

Press Release:

New service allows purchase of movie tickets through movie studio's ads on Xbox LIVE

LOS ANGELES, July 20 /PRNewswire/ — MovieTickets.com, the worldwide leader in advance movie ticketing, today announced that the company has been selected as the first to provide an online movie ticketing solution through the Microsoft Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system by integrating new technology into movie studio experiences on Xbox LIVE. The agreement marks another major entertainment brand joining MovieTickets.com and further increasing the company's consumer brand awareness.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100430/MOVIETICKETSLOGO )

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100430/MOVIETICKETSLOGO )

Xbox LIVE members in the U.S. are now able to make mobile movie ticket purchases through a text-in or a Microsoft Tag viewed in movie studio advertisements. By clicking on a feature film's advertisement on Xbox LIVE, a user can download and interact with relevant movie content. In addition, they can now activate a Microsoft Tag via their mobile phone which will direct the consumer to a co-branded website to purchase tickets through all domestic MovieTickets.com theater partners, which includes several of the largest exhibitors in the U.S.

"The agreement with MovieTickets.com provides Microsoft and movie studios another unique way to drive awareness and ticket sales through Xbox LIVE," said Mark Kroese, general manager for the Advertising Business Group at Microsoft. "Not only that, it provides for a great consumer experience."

For a complete list of the MovieTickets.com Exhibitors, please visit: www.movietickets.com/200strong.

For more information or to speak with a MovieTickets.com representative, contact Formula at (310) 578-7050 or via e-mail at casey@formulapr.com.

About MovieTickets.com

MovieTickets.com (www.movietickets.com), the worldwide leader in advance movie ticketing, offers moviegoers a destination for movie news, reviews and trailers as well as a convenient way to buy movie tickets in advance. MovieTickets.com enables consumers to buy tickets online for movie screens across the United States, as well as in Canada at MovieTickets.ca; in the U.K. at MovieTickets.co.uk; in Ireland at MovieTickets.ie; in Argentina at MovieTickets.com.ar; from any Internet-enabled wireless device at mobile.movietickets.com; and from any phone at 877-789-MOVIE. Formed in 2000, MovieTickets.com is a joint venture between AMC Entertainment, Hollywood Media Corp. (NASDAQ: HOLL), National Amusements, Cineplex Entertainment, Marcus Theatres (NYSE: MCS), Viacom (NYSE: VIA) and Time Warner, and leverages the collective theater chain expertise to deliver consumers a premium movie ticketing experience. Its elite collection of partner theaters consistently represents over 50 percent of the top 100 grossing theaters in North America on any given weekend. The MovieTickets.com theater chain group, which includes 200 theater chains, is about ten times the number of chains of its nearest competitor.