Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Who profits from movie theater ticket sales
Hi Matt,
Like most people, I have been going to see movies since I was a kid. I even remember the newsreels that were at the theaters on military bases where we were stationed. But that’s not my question. Since the cost of seeing a movie now is right at $12, I was wondering what the cut is for the theater? Or do the distributors get all of the ticket sales? Since food sales are a serious markup, giving up all ticket sales wouldn’t be that bad.
— Rich
Movie theater economics are complicated because of the huge expenses involved in producing and distributing films, especially big Hollywood blockbusters that deal in the hundreds-of-millions of dollars. For the most part, the distributors get the lion’s share of the ticket sales. People often argue over the exact figures. Movie theaters will have you believe that the distributors are robbing them blind, while some critics of that argument claim the theaters get to keep as much as 50 percent of the ticket sales. In truth, the percentages vary for individual films. Generally speaking, movies are less profitable for theaters at the beginning of their runs, when the distributors take a deeper cut of the profits because demand for the flick of the moment is at its highest. That’s where the $9 popcorn comes in. Profits on concessions are astronomical. Most restaurants can only dream of equaling the profitability of movie theater junk food. Popcorn can make as much as 90 percent profit and theaters need that to offset the cost of showing hot new features.
It’s easy to be cynical about the movies. They’re expensive and we often feel like the theaters and distributors are ripping us off more than anyone else. But it’s sobering to look at the instability of cinema companies. They seem very volatile, going out of business and changing ownership with shocking regularity, and that’s compelling evidence that they aren’t exactly raking in the profits. AMC and Regal, the two biggest movie theater chains in the country, would be lucky to profit $100 million in a year. That’s peanuts compared to big movie studios and distributors.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Who profits from movie theater ticket sales
Who profits from movie theater ticket sales
Hi Matt,
Like most people, I have been going to see movies since I was a kid. I even remember the newsreels that were at the theaters on military bases where we were stationed. But that’s not my question. Since the cost of seeing a movie now is right at $12, I was wondering what the cut is for the theater? Or do the distributors get all of the ticket sales? Since food sales are a serious markup, giving up all ticket sales wouldn’t be that bad.
— Rich
Movie theater economics are complicated because of the huge expenses involved in producing and distributing films, especially big Hollywood blockbusters that deal in the hundreds-of-millions of dollars. For the most part, the distributors get the lion’s share of the ticket sales. People often argue over the exact figures. Movie theaters will have you believe that the distributors are robbing them blind, while some critics of that argument claim the theaters get to keep as much as 50 percent of the ticket sales. In truth, the percentages vary for individual films. Generally speaking, movies are less profitable for theaters at the beginning of their runs, when the distributors take a deeper cut of the profits because demand for the flick of the moment is at its highest. That’s where the $9 popcorn comes in. Profits on concessions are astronomical. Most restaurants can only dream of equaling the profitability of movie theater junk food. Popcorn can make as much as 90 percent profit and theaters need that to offset the cost of showing hot new features.
It’s easy to be cynical about the movies. They’re expensive and we often feel like the theaters and distributors are ripping us off more than anyone else. But it’s sobering to look at the instability of cinema companies. They seem very volatile, going out of business and changing ownership with shocking regularity, and that’s compelling evidence that they aren’t exactly raking in the profits. AMC and Regal, the two biggest movie theater chains in the country, would be lucky to profit $100 million in a year. That’s peanuts compared to big movie studios and distributors.
Comments