Prince Charles Cinema issue apology after website crashes for Timothée Chalamet event: “We are frustrated too”
The Prince Charles Cinema in Soho, London, has issued an apology after its website crashed when tickets for a special Marty Supreme event featuring Timothée Chalamet in conversation went live.
The special event was announced on January 28th via X, with the organisation writing online: “This is not a test! We will have Academy Award and BAFTA-nominated actor Timothée Chalamet live on The PCC stage on Sunday, 1st February 15:10 for a PCC Members Only In Conversation event!”
In preparation for the ticket sale, the independent institution posted online a warning to fans hoping to get tickets, which read in part: “We are a single-site independent venue that is expecting more traffic to our website than ever before. We have made our box office and website provider aware of this, and they have done some prep to boost our speeds and will be monitoring the situation today.”
It warned potential ticket-buyers that the website might run at a very slow speed, and their transaction may fail as someone else might “select the same seat as you, and beat you to completing their transaction first.”
Unfortunately, the preparation wasn’t quite enough for the 300 seats available, as the organisation took to X to report, as they predicted, that the “website came crashing down.”
This was due to “thousands and thousands of people all on our website at the same time, all seeking tickets.” As a result, sales were temporarily suspended for the event.
They promised that “going forward, with events of this scale, we will be looking at the possibility of ticket balloting, online queue systems, and other box office solutions.”
It was, they admitted, “incredibly frustrating. Believe us, we are frustrated, too,” they reassured fans of Josh Safdie’s ping-pong epic. However, they added that “the level of support we have seen for this event, and for the cinema, this past year, is heartening. We don’t take it for granted.”
Additionally, the cinema promised to attempt to eradicate touts who attempt to resell tickets at a higher price: “If someone is selling theirs for more than face value, tell us – if we can, we will cancel their tickets!”
The event with Chalamet, who was recently nominated for an Oscar thanks to his performance in Marty Supreme, will take place on February 1st.
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