It’s a common enough sentiment: you talk with your friends about a movie that you loved every minute of, or a film that was mostly mediocre, and you have to point out that one scene that was “worth the price of admission.” I said this regarding the lightsaber vision scene from Star Wars: The Force Awakens (as well as several other scenes), the battle between Monkey and the Sister in Kubo and the Two Strings, and the moment in 2014’s Godzilla where the kaiju’s atomic breath made a triumphant appearance.
But while I still love to go to the movie theater and see films on the big screen, I spent $14.75 to go see Kubo and the Two Strings at a theatre in Hollywood. While I’m glad I did it, I can also remember a time when it cost much less to catch a flick in theaters.
So, the question becomes this: when ticket prices are as ludicrous as they are today, is going to the movies in theaters really worth the price of admission?
According to Box Office Mojo, the average ticket price in 2016 is about $8.66; that’s quite a change from when they first started keeping track, in 1910, when ticket prices were at an average of seven cents. I can only imagine going to see The Force Awakens or Kubo and the Two Strings for seven cents.
One of the reasons that movie tickets have become more expensive is because movies themselves are more expensive these days. Moreover, movie theaters are expensive operations to maintain. So the film studios have to make money, the movie theaters have to make money, and all that means that someone in this chain is getting squeezed for all they’re worth. Spoiler alert, it’s us, the audience.
But, again, is it worth it to see movies in theaters?
Yes. Yes it is. I remember when I saw The Force Awakens in theaters for the first time (the first of three, actually): to see the Millennium Falcon flying on the big screen was an exhilarating sight that was somewhat lost when I watched it on my laptop five months later. There is a level of detail and a sense of awe that is lost in the translation from silver screen to small screen, and I feel that that warrants seeing as many movies in theaters as possible. Is that expensive? Of course it is. Is it worth the price of admission? For a fan of movies, absolutely. If a movie is able to suck me into its world, then it’s all the better when I see it in theaters.
Sources:
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/about/adjuster.htm