The price is right ... but probably not for much longer.
At least so far, theater owners have gotten away with the biggest year-to-year increases in ticket prices ever -- with average admission costs spiraling upward more than 40 cents in 2010, or over 5 percent. Meanwhile, attendance has stayed largely flat, dropping less than 1 percent, according to the National Association of Theater Owners.
But with domestic theatrical revenue on pace to shatter 2009’s record $10.6 billion haul, it's becoming increasingly evident that exhibitors are close to maxing out consumer patience.
At least to some degree, a price revolt had something to do with the surprise $10-million debut under-performance last weekend of Weinstein/Dimension's "Piranha 3D," which had scored impressive reviews (81 percent Rotten Tomatoes score) and viral buzz going in.
Certainly, some of the movie's youthful target audience chose to see Fox's cheaper 2D "Vampires Suck" rather than shell out $16.50 for a ticket to see a genre film in a format that has shown to be more and more audience-resistant in the year since "Avatar."
“There’s certainly not much room for the price increasing further,” said an exhibition-chain executive who, like everyone else TheWrap spoke to for this story, was unwilling to lend his name to a discussion on the sensitive topic of movie prices. “The big question is going to be what happens in October and November. Once we get away from the big tentpole movies, what’s going to happen with (3D) movies like ‘Jackass 3D’ and ‘Megamind’?
But with several chains rolling back matinee showtimes from the 4 o'clock hour to no later than 1 p.m. this summer, it's not just about 3D up-charges. Between ticket prices and the price of popcorn and a Diet Coke, moviegoing overall has become an expensive proposition.
While not bombs by any means, neither "Knight and Day" nor "Eat Pray Love" matched the box office power of their stars, and despite good reviews and a Rotten Tomato score of 77, "Nanny McPhee Returns" opened to only $8.4 million -- the original "Nanny" in 2006 opened to $14.5 million ... in January.
Then there's Universal's "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" came in two weeks ago with equally strong pre-release credentials -- it remains the No. 1 trending topic on Twitter -- but it, too, was rejected at the box office. Perhaps it wasn't just an audience weary of Michael Cera that caused "Scott Pigrim's" young targets to steer clear.
Curiously, with summer season up over 3 percent according to Hollywood.com, studio distribution executives have adopted a rather blasé what-me-worry? mindset.
“I don’t think there’s been any pushback,” one major-studio distribution president told TheWrap. “Look at how the box office has been flourishing. Admissions aren’t up the way we’d like them to be, but the market has accepted the higher ticket prices. You can’t expect to pay $5 to go to the movies anymore.”
Concurred a rival distribution chief: “These ticket-price stories are things you read in the press, but I don’t believe any of it.
