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Soundwave on 01 January 2018
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Shadow1980 said:
Soundwave said:

You'll never see anything like the original Star Wars or even Titanic in theaters again. That era is over. In general even if they love a movie I find these days a lot of people won't watch a movie in theaters twice. Tickets are too expensive for that and there's a "new" blockbuster every weekend now (at least during summer/Christmas and even spring now). 

Also I think high gas prices actually helps movie theaters ... when gas is high/economy is not so good, that trip to Disneyland gets cut first and parents go to in that situation is to take the kids out to the movies as a treat that is affordable. I think it's been shown when the economy is not great, box office doesn't suffer and actually goes up in many instances. 

VCRs definitely did not impact Empire Strikes Back box office either ... in 1980, a VCR was still rare/a luxury item. That theory might hold more Return of the Jedi, but even in '83, a VCR was not some common thing. 

Empire Strikes Back also didn't release on home video until fall 1984 ... over 4 years after its theaterical release, lol. 

Well, I did say it's a complicated subject, and the cost of going to the theater most definitely cannot be excluded as a factor. Inflation-adjusted ticket prices, while they have dipped a bit since 2010, are still noticeably higher than they were in the 90s, having grown some 25% or more from 1997 to 2017. Large format and 3D tickets also cost several bucks more than a regular ticket. Concessions aren't cheap, either, but unfortunately there is an extreme lack of pricing data on them.

Movie ticket prices are ridiculous these days and you're right it's way beyond inflation. 

Nowadays it's like $35-$40 for me and my fiance to go see a movie. Factor in popcorn and soda and it's ridiculous. I'm a movie lover so I'll always go but theaters are being stupid IMO and are going to push out a lot of people with silly pricing. I don't know how families of 4-5 make due, a night at the movies is like a $100+ investment. 

A movie ticket should be $12 max. Once you're getting close to $20, you've lost the plot. I remember when $8 was the standard high end price.