Are movie pricing themselves out?

[karamazov80]

I suspect the risers are somewhere in the vicinity of 10% of the audience at a busy flick. That's not really enough to build a business on. Well more than 10% are already buying concessions. We tend to remember the risers because it's distracting. We never notice all the people not rising.

Even if your number is right (and I don't think it is, I would expect more like 40%), not everyone has popcorn at the theater. If they all had it, the majority would get up more for a drink if they didn't already have a drink, IMO. Because salt makes you thirsty. The ones you don't see get up probably have a drink already, which is the principle objective I am talking about. I don't know how they don't have to take a piss drinking those huge tubs in your theater, though.

 

[barbelith]

Even if your number is right (and I don't think it is, I would expect more like 40%)

I don't see how this is possible. Imagine you're in a small theater with 100 seats. That's 40 people getting up and sitting down. During a 90 minute film, that's nearly one entrance/exit per minute. And that's for a tiny theater. I've never seen anything like that in my life.

 

[ProgMatinee]

i very rarely see people get up in movies and usually I think its for the toilet because I never see people return half way through a movie with more food. i bet reveues would go up a lot if there were intermissions.

 

[Nitro]

Anybody notice that theatres are showing more commercials prior to movies starting (or it only me)?

 

[ProgMatinee]

i notice, but i don't really dislike it. i'm usually super early to movies anyway so its nice to have something to watch.

i prefer that over blatant in-movie sponsoring.

 

[Deeznutz6]

Movie theatres will always be in business, there will always be kids and parents who go and spend money, along with daters.

I used to work at one, and they make all their money from concessions. That is partly why they ditched what was once reduced fair night IE cheeapy Tuesday. The reason being, if you went on cheap night, you probably werent spending money on food so they lost out on revenue. Now they make money on all the commercials, fast food stands in the theatre and the games that you can play. When I was there they had none of this stuff, back in my day sonny

 

[karamazov80]

I don't see how this is possible. Imagine you're in a small theater with 100 seats. That's 40 people getting up and sitting down. During a 90 minute film, that's nearly one entrance/exit per minute. And that's for a tiny theater. I've never seen anything like that in my life.

Just as someone earlier figured that some may over-state the number who get up because it is annoying (which I don't doubt), I think you are seriously under-stating it to say it is 10%, because lots of people get sucked into the movie and probably don't pay attention to it when people do get up. I have noticed it, just like I notice annoying people talking on cell phones or amongst themselves, though some people I've gone to movies with don't.

People are constantly getting up and coming back in. It is staggered throughout the film, so it doesn't seem like a big chunk, but I bet it usually is. None of this speculation matters much, though, because it is all based on anecdotal evidence, and it all is completely irrelevant to the suggestion that theaters could make money by giving away free popcorn.

 

[Jair]

Just as someone earlier figured that some may over-state the number who get up because it is annoying (which I don't doubt), I think you are seriously under-stating it to say it is 10%, because lots of people get sucked into the movie and probably don't pay attention to it when people do get up. I have noticed it, just like I notice annoying people talking on cell phones or amongst themselves, though some people I've gone to movies with don't.

People are constantly getting up and coming back in. It is staggered throughout the film, so it doesn't seem like a big chunk, but I bet it usually is. None of this speculation matters much, though, because it is all based on anecdotal evidence, and it all is completely irrelevant to the suggestion that theaters could make money by giving away free popcorn.

It's a pretty small number, least it was at the Theater I was manager at, we actually kept track of sales during show times and before show times and crunched the numbers (not us but home office) and the amount of people who leave the movie once it's started for concessions is very small. There really is no way to track bathroom breaks so those are not figured in.

As for commercials, it worked like this for us....we had two tiers of commercials, we had a national company that used a slide show process for local advertisers and then the home office commericals on a HD projector. I know for a long time our chain would not do any commericals prior to the movies other than the local slideshow stuff but once we were bought out that all changed and we bacame more like Regal.


Evan

 

[DinoLast]

The wife and I go on two for one night, and we smuggle in the supermarket snacks too.

 

[The Ween]

refillable for one showing ?. I can't make it through half of my popcorn usually.

It says anytime, so I'm figuring it's like those coffee mugs you get at convienent stores that you can refill anytime to go in.

This might be a way of cutting down on those paper bags.

 

[DinoDB1975]

It says anytime, so I'm figuring it's like those coffee mugs you get at convienent stores that you can refill anytime to go in.

This might be a way of cutting down on those paper bags.

We had those when I worked for GCC Cinemas back in high school over 15 years ago. They were called Monster Buckets, and you got a one time free refill, any time. People would take them home and bring them back at their next movie.

 

[uscmhicks]

The wife and I go on two for one night, and we smuggle in the supermarket snacks too.

I'm not paying £4.00 for a watery sprite.

 

[devilof76]

I've never had more than 2-3 people get up in the middle of the movie.

And I think the only way movie theaters could go extinct is if the economies continue to contract. I'm betting a lot fewer people bothered bringing in their own snacks during the late 90's or similar eras, when luxury spending was a lot less tight.

 

[KitFisto]

Movies priced me out years ago. I still go maybe 2-3 times a year, but it's usually for something I REALLY want to see. I used to go all the time just because I enjoyed it, but when a ticket, soda, popcorn and a box of candy got to be $30 for 1 person I said the heck with it and cut WAY back to only a couple of times a year.

 

[quadcent]

movie tickets aren't to bad at our local small town theater at $7 regular and $4 for cheapskate tuesdays, but the popcorn and pop is outrageous.
now i've been to shows in calgary (our largest city) and tickets are $12-$15 plus the snacks are even more money. then you have to sit in a very crowded theater for 1/2 hr watching advertisements like on tv. fack me if i wanted to see commercials i'd wait for it to come on tv.

by the time the movie started i was out of popcorn and pop already. never never will i watch a movie in the big city.

 

[DinoLast]

I'm not paying £4.00 for a watery sprite.

Too right.
Those drinks go flat during the trailers

 

[Buttmunch]

I always go to the last matinee (anything before 6PM is one here), have a refillable theater mug (only $1 for a refill, and its at least a Large size, if not bigger), and get a large popcorn (with a free refill, but we just usually grab it on our way out) to split with the whole family. That usually keeps things down price wise. So if you need a bring, get a refillable mug at your theater. They more than pay for themselves over time. And use the free refills on popcorn. You can eat it while watching something else at home later! But the last matinee is key! $5-6 is much better than $7-10+!

 

[barbelith]

People are constantly getting up and coming back in. It is staggered throughout the film, so it doesn't seem like a big chunk, but I bet it usually is.

These two lines contradict each other.

None of this speculation matters much, though, because it is all based on anecdotal evidence, and it all is completely irrelevant to the suggestion that theaters could make money by giving away free popcorn.

Actually, it's supremely relevant, because if people don't like to get up during a movie, they're not going to descend on the concession in stand in droves when that hypothetical free popcorn makes them thirsty.

 

[DinoDB1975]

The last movie I went to was the Princess and the Frog with my girlfriend and our three kids. I spent $38 total on three kids packs (kid sized popcorn, candy, and drink), two drinks, and nachos. Man, I've taken this for granted, but I just realized how lucky I've been as I haven't had to pay for a movie in the last 18 years or so. My brother is a manager at a fairly large AMC and I get tickets for free; prior to that, I worked at a theater in high school/ first year of college. Honestly, I don't know how much tickets go for these days, but I can imagine that had I had to purchase tickets for the five the last time out, my expenses would have exceeded $80, minimum.

 

[Praetorian380]

I typically dont go to the movies for this exact reason - too much money

So what I made sure I do now is go to the matinees. Our local theatre has the first showing everyday priced a $6. for that amount Im down to watch anytime. the problem is getting up early enough to go see it. some of these matinees are at 10 am.

Im lazy and want to sleep in!