The Outrageous Price of Movies
Dec 4th, 2006 by What's Gotta Go
My attendance to movie theaters has dropped over the recent years. Why? Lots of reasons, but mainly I hate paying top dollar for the “privilege” of the movie going experience. I enjoy the big screen, surround sound, etc. for some particular movies, and that’s when I bite the bullet and go; otherwise, I just don’t think it is worth it.
I went and saw Casino Royale this last weekend, the latest installment in the Bond lineup, and it was a great flick. I still hated handing over the $15 it took for my wife and I to go. I know that is actually a few bucks less than other areas in the country, but it is still too much for the quality of movie we usually get. The week prior, my sister-in-law was in town and really wanted to see The Fountain, so we went with her to what ended up being the longest couple of hours I have spent in a long time. That currently ranks at the top of my worst movies of all time list, for movies that were at least trying to be a good movie. It was terrible, awful, and every other “nice” word for bad you can think of. I actually considered poking my eyeballs out to relieve the pain. Movie companies keep crying in the news lately about how movie attendance is down and they are blaming piracy. That argument convinces me, sure. Most movies these days don’t merit the theater experience. How about many movies in the recent years have just not been good enough to draw the crowds. Lord of the Rings, Passion of Christ, and many others that actually worked to produce a quality flick did just fine.
How about when movie companies cry about all the money they are losing to piracy. Oh, boo hoo. In the very next entertainment article I read they talk about so-and-so big wig actor getting $25 million for his next flick. The next one reads about the top flick of the week pulling in $50, $60 or even $80 million for the weekend. I understand there are films that lose out and some are big winners, but come on, are you going to tout how big a film did and then tell me prices are going up at the box office because you are losing money? How stupid do you think I am? Apparently they figure I realize my position relative to their greatness and I owe them for this great movie watching privilege. Well, perhaps a portion of society is sending a message, that most movies aren’t worth seeing before the DVD release.
There has to be a reality check as well that the home theater business has been booming for a number of years. DVD sales are through the roof, which tells me that there is a simple switch in the market taking place. Yep, most of us are finding our movie watching experience is just fine at home. Our big screens are big enough, our sound systems good enough. Plus, we spend a similar amount of money to “own” (a whole other discussion about current lobbying for copyright law and fair use) our copy of the movie. And as for piracy in this whole situation, again, I think there is a shift taking place in the movie economy. MPAA can try to beat it down with their buying off laws for a time, but eventually they will have to change the way they make money to keep up with the changing times.
Now here is the best part of this ticket price gouging. Do you realize that movie theaters don’t even make a hair of that money you pay to see the movie? Yep, that is why we are barraged with the snack counters trying to sell us their overpriced food, so they can actually keep their doors open. That is the only place that movie theaters make a profit, is charging $4.50 for a drink and $7 for a large popcorn. How ridiculous is that? This essentially makes movie theaters expensive convenience stores with a few overpriced items that can only get you to buy their stuff by showing movies.
Don’t be fooled by what you see/read in the media about the current economics of movies. If movie companies were really losing money, they would pay actors less to make the budgets work. If the actors are too expensive to make it work, there are plenty of the smaller name variety that will gladly take the roles. Who knows, we might actually get some actors that can act instead of ones that are just the latest craze. Movie prices are just too high, and people are starting to stay home, or go out and do something else; and more often than not, I am one of them.
Totally agree, there are fewer and fewer “theater worthy” movies anymore. We RARELY waist our money at the theaters, we usually Pay Per View Movies we want to see!
Funny you should mention PPV as that was one of my first rants ;) Glad someone enjoys that service.
Okay, just went back to read your rant. Although we are a frequent user of PPV (NOT for the events or adult channels ;) ) I will have to agree with what you ranted about!
Now I will let you in on why we use our PPV, and I do mean we USE them. Hehe. We record any movies we get off PPV onto our DVR (a must have for any household) and then we record the movie to DVD with our DVD Recorder! And Voila, we have the movie we want to view any time at our disposal! So for $3.99 we own the movie! We do this mostly with the kids shows because they are more likely to watch a movie over and over again!
That is why we only go to the matinees. The movie theater by our house only charges $2 until 6 pm everyday for all movies. There is no reason to pay more.
It is a shame the movie theaters do not make money off showing the movie.
I agree that the matinée has become the best way to go if you want to head out to the theater. Sometimes we can only get the babysitter lined up for the evening, so choices are limited. Of course, add that babysitter to the cost of the evening, and going out keeps getting more and more expensive!
Now that is a rant all its own….the cost of a babysitter. I feel your pain Jeremy as we just added number 4 to our family the costs keep going up! A 20$ date (those were the good ole days) is now easily 70$!!
Good one Jeremy! My family will go to a Matinee if the movie HAS to be seen on a big screen but most movies we wait until the DVD comes out. My daughter does go to many more with friends as she chooses to spend her allowance on that. We also use the On Demand feature with cable to watch movies that are on DVD…as that is cheaper now than renting a DVD. Sorry to hear about the theater only making money on selling their food items…my family NEVER buys the food items. With a larger screen HDTV at home…and can air pop healthier popcorn…why go out?
Hey Jeremy! Did you ever consider borrowing a DVD from your local library. I am partial to libraries as I am a librian. They are free to take out with your library card & you only pay if you are late. Try it! JMHO
Theaters trap you with food as the movie going experience. You end up paying the same as going out to a restaurant.
We’re lucky. Our local theater still charges $5 per person, plus popcorn, pop and an intermission (yes, our theater still has an intermission) where they serve (FOR FREE) 5 different types of cakes, cookies, hot coffee and sometimes punch during the warmer months.
Why on Earth do they have this intermission. In the older days, films always arrived in 2 canisters so they needed time to rewind the 1st half and then put on the 2nd reel.
So, albeit, the intermission with free cake and coffee. It’s fun as most of the time we go outside and you can hear comments from other people on the movie.
The bad thing, sometimes the movies suck big time – I do mean really bad stinker movies. They don’t get the big-named movies all the time – although we saw a movie called “Saving Grace” that we laughed so hard. We also saw “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” there – hilarious and the theater was filled to capacity (not a huge theater) and everyone enjoyed themselves.
The one thing that does help a little, no one under the age of (I think) is 16 or 18 – no kids allowed. Which is nice – no crying babies, no kids running up and down the aisles.
Now, we do have the Showplace 16 and let me say that for 4 people to have to spend well into $60 is a little bit ridiculous – free popcorn/soda refills – yeah, but they charge you $5-$7 each to begin with. Yeah, you’re saving a lot of money – how many of you want to leave a movie to get a refill??? You just might miss the best scene of the movie – been there done that.
Okay, we also have a theater about 10-15 minutes away (driving time please) and they have the balcony seating – all the popcorn/pop you want at a set rate. Okay, again, they’re supposed to come to you to see if you’re in need of a refill – cough, cough – my throat is dry. The one time – the only time – we did this we had to go downstairs to get our own drinks and popcorn 3 out of 4 times. I think about 8 of us went. Let’s just say we got our money’s worth and we made sure we did. They didn’t know what hit them. I think the girl came upstairs once and we all ordered – she was going crazy.
We don’t go to the theater that often any longer because of the rising cost – and let’s face it – whether the movie is good or bad – it’ll be out on DVD before you know it.
Lucky you, matinees up in Tacoma are still closer to $6/person. We went over the weekend to see “Happy Feet”-Nick’s seen it three times, Teren twice and this was my first. (Nick really likes taps, blues and jazz) For the three of us, $21 on a matinee, not counting munchies, and you are forbidden to bring your own into the theaters here, so you’re stuck buying it, for more than you spent on the tickets!
Far as I’m concerned, NetFlix is my FRIEND! (and Blockbuster’s finagling to not allow them to have releases of certain movies is just WRONG) And for all others, like the BBC stuff I can’t get over here, friends with the savvy and know-how to get them over the Internet and then present me with them are blessings. :)
Haven’t been to a movie in a theater for at least 3 years.
When we did go, we would take a sack and then buy the small popcorn and dump it in the sack over and over so we had enough and didn’t have to go back for “FREE” refills and miss the movie. At first we didn’t do this in front of them, but the last few times we just dumped the popcorn in the sack while at the counter so we didn’t have to stand in line for a long time.
When the nieces and nephews were little, we would take the to a movie and take Tupperware tumblers and sipper seals in my purse. Then we would buy a drink, go get our seats and start pouring the drinks into the little cups.
Yep, we are cheap. Actually, we just cannot afford to pay the prices now days. Either that, or we are just getting old and grumpy.