Design Movie Booking System
Last Updated: December 29, 2025
What is a Movie Ticket Booking System?
A movie ticket booking system allows users to browse movies, view showtimes, select seats, and purchase tickets online. The system must handle seat inventory in real-time, prevent double bookings, and process payments securely.
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The core challenge lies in managing concurrent seat selections. When a popular movie releases, thousands of users might try to book the same seats simultaneously. The system must ensure that each seat is sold exactly once while providing a smooth booking experience.
Popular Examples: BookMyShow, Ticketmaster, Fandango, AMC Theatres
This system design problem tests several fundamental concepts: inventory management with strong consistency guarantees, distributed locking, saga patterns for distributed transactions, and graceful handling of high concurrency scenarios.
In this article, we will explore the high-level design of a movie ticket booking system.
Let's start by clarifying the requirements: