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Are Movie Theater Tickets Worth $20 ?
Friday, March 26, 2010 at 4:19PM Would YOU pay $20 to see Avatar, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen or Alice in Wonderland in a movie theater?
A Wall Street Journal report recently described movie theater plans to increase ticket prices. The report mentioned that movie theater attendance accounted for over one billion ticket sales in 2009, a 5.5% increase since 2004 and is still growing. Since there have been claims in the last few years that movie theaters are losing money, then a growing surge in attendance should make exhibitors grateful that they are still in business. This new report does not reflect a grateful position but rather a display of greed as companies try to capitalize on the revenues that they are already generating.
Starting today for example, a 3-D Imax movie ticket at one AMC movie theater in New York will cost $19.50 rather than the usual price of $16.50. Hey, I understand at some level why companies would have the attitude of "we're making money, so let's make even more money!" but they do not seem to be considering the entertainment budgets of adult consumers ( or even putting themselves in a consumer's shoes for a minute) who is the reason they generated more revenue in the first place.
My question on this matter is, does an increase in theater revenues mean that major movie theater chains such as AMC, Regal Entertainment and Cinemark can justify adding up to $3 more to their adult ticket prices for consumers? After leaving the following comments on the article, I realized that there are a few solutions for consumers who may not agree with ticket price increases:
I agree with the author and those few studio executives who mentioned they are concerned about the price increases due to their position of being a value option for the consumer compared to more expensive forms of entertainment.
Movie theater tickets are already pricey for a regular film, forget about 3D because that's another area to tackle. If they want to raise prices, why not just negotiate a better commission in their deal with movie studios instead of making consumers foot the bill?
Another option for movie theaters would be to only increase ticket prices on premium 3D releases during the opening weekend and keep the prices for the standard versions the same as they are today. Increasing prices for all movies, no matter which format tells consumers that movie theater chains are not concerned with the recession and that they will collect as much money from consumers as they can.....so long as they are still in business of course, a status that may change when consumers stop visiting theaters as much as they do now.
One option that we have as consumers to deal with these movie theater ticket price increases is to skip the theaters altogether. If a movie ticket costs $19.50 (using that one AMC theater price as an example), that's almost $20. Movie fans can use that money to buy a DVD of the same movie by waiting a few weeks or months to watch it at their leisure instead of paying $20 to a movie theater. I don't know about the rest of you, but as a movie fan, $20 better get me a little more than a movie on one large screen, especially if I have to deal with crying babies and rude people on their cell phones to watch this movie. The actors better be in attendance for a Q&A session OR free concessions better come with my ticket OR at the very least, a CD Soundtrack or itunes download.
Some movie goers will think "what if I don't like the movie? why should I buy it on DVD" and there is a possible solution to this problem. Get three of your friends to contribute $5 each for a DVD of a movie that you all want to watch. Their money, plus your $5 will pay for a $20 DVD release and then if you don't like the movie, give it to someone who does. You can also sell it to someone who hasn't seen it for the price that you paid, which is another reason why bootlegs are not the best option.
In order to avoid these huge ticket prices, I hope that as consumers, many of us will start to support more independent movie theaters. Many independent theaters show first-run movies such as the recent "Up in the Air" with George Clooney and such.....but the catch is that some of the independent theaters start to show them a few weeks or more after they are released in the multiplex theaters. Another upside is that the independent theaters also charge a few dollars less, so an adult ticket that costs around $10.50 will cost $6 or $7 at independent movie theaters for the same movie.
If that is not a reason for consumers to spend wisely on movie theater tickets, I don't know what is.
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Reader Comments (3)
The wife and I saw Avatar in 3-D on an IMax screen. Let me tell ya, that was *amazing*. I can see why theaters would be jacking up their prices for these movies. But then again, with the increase in price I'm not as willing to go to the theaters. It's a give and take sort of thing, but as it stands right now I'm not willing to fork over that much money for a movie that often. In the long run, the theaters are going to be making much less off of me if they continue with this practice.
Hey Herman,
It's nice to have you here at the Madlab Post today. I'm glad you liked Avatar, as I wanted to watch it but procrastinated and now it's no longer in theaters.
Your last statement is the main gist of this whole thing. Movie theaters should be more concerned with maintaining their customers on a long term basis instead of charging more for tickets, which may give them a boost in revenue early on but as you said, they will lose more money after that initial influx of extra revenue wears off.
Oddly enough, there is one possible justification for movie ticket increases that other movie fans have pondered while discussing a loosely related matter with me, which I will highlight in an upcoming post.
Thanks for commenting on this movie theater ticket post!
For 3D in iMax, yes I would pay $20 for a movie I really wanted to see. Here in the Midwest I can pay $6.50 for non-3D movies if you go before 5PM. I try to catch most moves before 5 to get the good prices. :) But I don't think I would pay $20 for your everyday movie. Things go to DVD so quick these days I would just have to wait.