Jason Best was excited to learn Seth Rogan’s “The Interview” was headed to theaters – but not because he wanted to see it. Instead, Best saw the release as a money making opportunity. How wrong he was.
Due to the limited release and buzz about the movie, Best decided to buy 50 tickets to screenings of the film at the Esquire Theatre in Clifton, Ohio. He threw down $13 a ticket, for a total of $650 – of which he planned to make back (and then some) by scalping the tickets online. Best spoke with WCPO:
“I saw all the hype about The Interview on the 23rd and thought, ‘hey, folks are selling these tickets in other cities and it seems like that’s the thing to do right now so why not give it a shot so see how it goes,'” said Best, adding that he planned to use one ticket for himself.
But Best’s get-rich-scheme backfired on him as Sony announced the film would also be released on the internet.
Seeing that demand was not going to be as high as he had projected, Best (hilariously) tried to return his tickets to the Esquire.
“I thought I’d get my money back because the theater’s website *very clearly* said the tickets were refundable,” Best wrote in an email to WCPO.
And while the theater normally refunds tickets up to 30 minutes before showtime, they did not this time around. A manager told WCPO that the return policy operates on a case-by-case basis – and this film was a “special event”. The theater added that Best was trying to scalp the tickets at a higher price, “which is illegal”.
