For a long time, one of the great advantages of going out to watch movies is that it is cost-effective. You can enjoy more than two hours of entertainment for not much money. But now, with single tickets hitting $50, the old advantage no longer exists. For "Dune 3," which was released in December this year, tickets for the premiere screening at Regal Cinemas' top theaters reached $50.
Following the tiered pricing model of the airline and hotel industries, sky-high ticket prices for popular blockbusters and top movie theaters are becoming more and more common. Cinemas have begun to accurately target senior moviegoers with high spending power and charge them higher premiums.
According to data from the research agency Ent Intelligence, 17% of movie tickets sold in the United States last year were in high-end format theaters with large screens and better sound effects, up from 13% in 2021;
The average ticket price in high-end movie theaters in the United States is US$18, and in big cities such as New York and Los Angeles it is as high as US$30.
This is the reality of the current theater market: hard-core movie fans pay high prices, ordinary audiences are increasingly watching fewer movies, and entertainment needs are turning to online platforms such as Netflix, YouTube, and TikTok.
Although there have been many blockbuster movies recently, such as "Michael", "The Rescue Plan" and "Super Mario Galaxy Movie", the total number of annual moviegoers has dropped by more than one-third compared with before the epidemic.
Adam Allen, CEO of AMC, the largest theater chain in the United States, said:
"The good news is that the unit price per viewer is already higher than before the epidemic. But the sharp decline in the number of moviegoers is definitely not a good thing."
Premium $50 tickets to the 70mm IMAX film of "Dune 3" at Regal Cinema sold out within minutes of going online.
Since high-end theaters tend to fill up quickly, major theater chains are accelerating the expansion of high-end theaters. AMC had 517 high-end theaters as of the end of last year, an increase of 30% from 2021. In addition, AMC will charge an additional premium surcharge of up to $2 per picture on the opening weekend of popular movies.
The average adult ticket price in a standard theater is US$12.75, which is basically in line with inflation; there are also discounted shows on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Greg Marcus, CEO of Marcus Cinemas, a Midwest theater chain, noted:
In the past 20 years, the consumption of popcorn, drinks, and peripheral snacks has increased by as much as 220%, far exceeding the level of inflation.
Today, AMC viewers spend an average of $9 on snacks per movie viewing, compared with only $5 before the epidemic; this data includes people who only buy tickets and do not consume snacks (accounting for 20%–30%).
Some Hollywood executives are worried that the continued rise in moviegoing costs and over-reliance on high-end premium theaters are turning moviegoing from everyday affordable entertainment to expensive special consumption.
Tom Rothman, chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment Film Group, publicly stated at the Las Vegas Film Industry Conference:
“Watching movies must return to affordability.”
Filmmakers and theaters have long been in a subtle symbiotic game relationship: they are interdependent on each other, but they are often dissatisfied with each other's self-interested decisions.
Film studios have long complained about poor maintenance of theater facilities, and now two new complaints have been added: ticket prices continue to rise and pre-show advertising is rampant. Extra-long pre-roll ads plus as many as nine trailers often result in the film being officially screened nearly half an hour later than the scheduled opening time.
Theaters responded that the biggest dilemma in the industry is that the number of films released by film studios each year has dropped by about 25% compared with before the epidemic.
The supply of film sources is insufficient, and theater chains are unable to increase revenue by increasing film schedules, and are forced to seek profits through price increases.
Marcus said bluntly: "Please give us enough movies. If we don't allow theaters to get reasonable returns, don't ask us to increase investment and take the initiative to lower prices."
Paramount CEO David Ellison promised at an industry conference that if Paramount completes its acquisition of Warner, the two studios will release a combined total of at least 30 films per year, compared with a total of only 19 films in 2025.
Amazon-MGM also plans to expand theatrical distribution from a handful of films to 15 per year.
High-end cinemas have also become a new focus of conflict:
The theater chain hopes to build its own high-end cinema brand and get rid of its dependence on the industry leader IMAX; the film studio hopes to unify and jointly market. Disney launched the new high-end cinema standard ‘Infinite Vision’ at the conference, exclusively for the screening of “Avengers: Endgame” in December. Since all IMAX schedules have been reserved for "Dune 3", which will be released on the same day, the film will not be able to be screened on the IMAX screen.
Some theater chains are wary of adding Disney’s ‘Infinite Vision’ certification label next to their high-end logos (such as Cinemark XD and Regal RPX), fearing that they will be tied to Disney and lose their pricing and operational autonomy.