But ask yourself: “Are you alarmed?” Do you find yourself happy with several $10 a month hits and all the movie and entertainment content you can absorb? And at home you don’t cover $9 sodas and $15 popcorn.
Maybe we’ve reached the consumer’s disgust at paying a day’s wages for a night at the movies. Whether you’re solo, on a date, or taking the family, you’re paying a lot for two hours of entertainment PLUS a half hour of commercials.
The website Box Office Mojo said “this is still the worst three-day Labor Day weekend in twelve years. The top twelve grossed a combined $51.5 million and you have to go back to 2000, when the top twelve grossed a combined $47 million, to find a worse performance.” And remember, the average ticket price in 2000 was $5.39 when adjusted for inflation. Today the average price is more than 60 percent higher.
McClintock’s publication, The Hollywood Reporter, said “the average cost of going to the movies in North America hit another record high in the first quarter of 2017, or $8.84, according to the National Association of Theater Owners.
“That compares to $8.79 in the fourth quarter of 2016, and an all-time high of $8.65 for all of 2016.” So if revenues are in decline while ticket prices have more than doubled, that means record numbers of people are staying home instead of going to the Cineplex.
We should congratulate ourselves. Apparently we’re mad as hell and not taking it anymore. Let’s hope the studios and distributors are paying attention.
