What Recession?? Alabama Wants You To Buy a $35 Movie Ticket

posted by Zach Patton

Do you enjoy going to the movies but think they're just too darn affordable? 

The state of Alabama hopes so. The Retirement Systems of Alabama pension fund has partnered with a couple of entertainment companies to build a series of luxury cinemas -- with tickets that cost $35:

Each complex will sport theaters featuring 40 reclining armchair seats with footrests, digital projection and the capability to screen 2-D and 3-D movies, as well as a lounge and bar serving cocktails and appetizers, a concierge service and valet parking.

But the circuit will especially push its culinary offerings -- made-to-order meals like sushi and other theater-friendly foods from on-site chefs (a service button at each seat calls a waiter). Moviegoers will have to pay extra for any food they order, however.

The partners are spending $200 million to build 50 of these theaters over the next 5 years. The first two, in the burbs outside Chicago and Seattle, will open later this year.

Sounds like a risky venture to me. For starters, people seem to be generally frustrated with the current cost of a movie ticket, which is less than a third of what these luxe movie houses would charge.

But the Alabama pension fund is no stranger to risks. CEO David Bronner has invested the fund in everything from post-bankrupt airlines to luxury golf resorts to TV stations. And it seems to be paying off. In Governing's round-up of state pension woes, Alabama actually had one of the better-funded pension systems in the country.

So what do I know?  Maybe states should be getting into more of these kinds of offbeat investments. I mean, it ain't like the stock market's all that reliable these days....