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Movie Tickets Eclipse $50
Breakin’ the piggy bank // Illustration by Kate Walker
Movie ticket prices are rising rapidly thanks to a reliance on premium large formats, a shrinking film slate, and the need to fill attendance gaps.
The Big Picture: For decades, seeing a movie in theaters was considered the cheapest and most accessible form of entertainment, allowing an entire family to go out on a budget. But with tickets (and concessions) surging in price, it could change not just the movies being made, but also who goes to see them.
Behind The Scenes: Theaters are trying to get more money from fewer people, per The WSJ.
While the average cost to see a movie has risen to $18 nationally, it’s hit $30 in big cities like LA and NYC.
That’s mostly thanks to the price of premium formats like IMAX, RPX, and Dolby Atmos, which accounted for 17% of tickets sold last year.
It’s no wonder theater chains are rushing to build more of these screens… and Disney certified a new premium format for December’s Avengers: Doomsday when it couldn’t secure IMAX screens.
And Warner Bros. may have set a new precedent: it released opening-night IMAX 70mm tickets for the upcoming Dune: Part Three for a whopping $50… and sold out in minutes.
Final Receipt: Theater chains argue that the price increases are necessary because Hollywood is pumping out roughly 25% fewer films than it did before the pandemic… and is now serving one-third as many audiences as it used to. Decreased supply and decreased demand are never a good equation for a business, which also explains why concessions are now so expensive (popcorn is almost worth its weight in gold).
But here’s the thing: demand for premium formats is only going up, driving grosses for titles like Sinners and Project Hail Mary. And spending on concessions and merch has multiplied 220% over the past 20 years. In other words, welcome to the new normal.
Next Showing: Theaters have already tried — and failed — to introduce dynamic pricing to lower ticket prices, so expect a push toward membership programs like Regal Unlimited and AMC Stubs A-List as the most cost-effective way to see movies.
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Today’s email was written by David Vendrell.
Edited by Nick Comney. Polled and Copy-edited by Kait Cunniff.
Published by Darline Salazar.