Why do popcorn and drinks cost so much at the movies?

[Shelly21]

Originally posted by: HappyPuppy
Theaters don't really make much from ticket sales. Their big profit comes from the concession stands.

Right, and they have a monopoly by banning outside food. How can fat people sit and watch a 100 minutes movie without snack?

I always sneak in candies.

 

[knivox]

I've never understood why people like to eat while watching movies. I'm ususally too engrossed to care about eating anything, much less stale, overpriced popcorn.

 

[BDawg]

I've always wondered why no one sees this as theaters leveraging their monopoly of a service (i.e. showing of a movie in a town) to unfairly complete in another segment (i.e. snack foods).

 

[rh71]

about not making any profit on ticket sales - how is it true if every theatre charges a different price ?

 

[DeeKnow]

Originally posted by: JeffreyLebowski
offset your movie going costs, by going with your gf wife daughter, and make them bring a big purse.
In the purse, put bottled drinks, candies and snacks. Also put a video camera in it if you are daring.

I can't count the times i have seen people drinking beer in a movie theater.

where I live we always take cookies and chips and beer and coke into the theatre... screw $8 popcorn!

 

[Kelemvor]

That's why I usually bring in my own soda and eat before I go. They don't check real hard. Just gotta pop the can open during some loud noise in case there's someone watching from the back that might hear it open.

 

[Bassyhead]

supply and demand, and they make a lot of money doing it

 

[element]

Originally posted by: Wingznut

Originally posted by: JohnCU
I mean, how much do you really think it costs to make popcorn?

The actual cost of the product has little to do with how much it sells for. Take a basic economics class... It's all about what the market will bear.

What he said. It's all about supply and demand. I mean look at SUVs and video cards. ha! 40+k for an SUV? $500 for a vid card? rip off. Hell when even porsche got into the SUV biz I knew consumer's had lost their minds.

 

i typically don't buy anything from theater concession
during Troy i did though, and i made sure i got my moneys worth
i bought a large coke and a blue icee for the kidlett
both have infinite refills

I slammed that 64oz coke like nothin and had to drain it after about 30 minutes
I refilled both the coke and the icee on the way back

less than 20 minutes later, me -- small bladder boy -- had to tinkle again.
I had barely drank 1/4 of my drink, and the kidlett had barely skimmed the top off her icee -- i took both, dumped them in the trash, pissed, and had both refilled

this happened again after about 40 minutes

as the movie got out, we once again dumped the remainder of the icee and coke and had both refilled for the trip home (errr...actually we went to the grocery store, where the kidlett had massive brain freeze and accidently dropped the icee in the deli department)

 

[K1052]

The major chains can't organize and bargian for the price paid for film. Courts have decied that it would represent collusion.

There was a major building craze among the largest circuits in the mid 90s, as a result film stays in theatres for less time as the demand is satisfied much faster. This means that many films never reach the point where the film rental terms are all that favorable for the theatre. The theatre still makes money, they just have to make up on the volume. Raising concession prices also helps the theatre turn a profit since they get less from the boxoffice but have more patrons.

Also, construction prices have risen steadily and a theatre requires a ton of cash up front a year before you open the doors. Generally, these companies have to take on debt to expand its operations or remodel existing facilities to stay competitive.


Edit: The MPAA has nothing to do with the film buying. Each exhibitor and distributor deal with each other.

 

[sillymofo]

That's funny, that statement about ticket sales, considering they measure how well a movie does base on TICKET SALES. I've never heard of a movie that based it's success on how many popcorn buckets that went with the purchase of a ticket.

May be all that money goes to the movie makers, and actors, and the theater has to get chump change from the sales of concessions. I stand corrected, carry on.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: cr4zymofo
That's funny, that statement about ticket sales, considering they measure how well a movie does base on TICKET SALES. I've never heard of a movie that based it's success on how many popcorn buckets that went with the purchase of a ticket.

May be all that money goes to the movie makers, and actors, and the theater has to get chump change from the sales of concessions. I stand corrected, carry on.

Uh... that's exactly it. Joe Public doesn't care how much money the movie theaters are making off the movies. Actually, I don't really understand why people care how much the STUDIOS are making either. On IMDB all the wannabe movie buffs try to guess how much each movie will make before it comes out. I guess if that's how they get their jollies, to each his own.

 

[Apathetic]

Because people are willing to pay ridiculous amounts of money for them.

Dave

 

[yukichigai]

It is what the market will bear, especially after it was determined that businesses can prevent people from bringing in any food or beverage even if food or beverages are sold within that business. For the ~2 hours you are at a movie theater they have a legalized monopoly on your food.