3D flicks spark cinema price hikes
p2pnet view Movies:- Expect soon to see a marked increase in rabid, shock-horror puff pieces from Hollywood’s MPAA movie enforcement unit.
Cinema ticket prices “will be going up at movie theaters across the country this weekend as the entertainment industry looks to cash in on growing demand for 3-D movies”, says CNNMoney.
As of Friday, prices for adult admission to 3-D movies went up an average 8.3% at box offices nationwide, says the story.
Prices for “regular 2-D movies” will go up by about 4% on average, it says.
This will, of course, inevitably lead to more and more people turning to home entertainment and computer systems for their movie watching pleasure, many of them using downloads from P2P networks, significant numbers of the ‘releases’ supplied by Hollywood insiders.
“The price increases vary by region and will be in effect at theater chains operated by AMC Entertainment Inc., Regal Entertainment Group (RGC) and others” says CNNMOney, going on, At one AMC theater in New York, the price for a family of four to see a 3D screening of ‘How to Train your Dragon’was $63 “before popcorn, soda or candy”.
Adult ticket prices for 3D flicks “will jump to $15.50 from $13.50 at one theater operated by AMC near Boston. At a Regal theater in Seattle, 3-D ticket prices will rise to $15 from $13.50 for adult admission”, it says.
But, “some industry analysts warn that the price hikes could spark a backlash among consumers still struggling in the weak economy”, says the post, quoting analyst Richard Greenfield as stating and, “If consumers absorb the price increases without issue, we believe it bodes well for the pricing power of the movie exhibition industry, particularly their highest quality product.”
But, “What’s particularly interesting about the recent price hikes isn’t that they have risen quicker than usual, or that they have risen during a period when consumers are trying to spend less — both of which are true — but that they have risen during a time when there’s been a sharp deflation in the price of similar kinds of entertainment”, says Time, noting people can rent movies via Netflix, Blockbuster, or for $1-per-day from Redbox.
“As the cost disparity between a night at the movies and a night in your house watching a movie grows, consumers have to ask themselves just how much they prefer the theater’s big screen to their own living room’s big screen, and how much they prefer movie theater popcorn to the kind they heat up in the microwave”, it says, asking:
“Is the theater experience really 50 times better?”
..… and identi.ca
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi
CNNMoney -3D movie tickets set for epic price hike, March 25, 2010
Time – The Movies: Never Cheaper, Never More Expensive, March 25, 2010
Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. Subscribe to p2pnet.net | | rss feed: http://p2pnet.net/feed
Net access blocked by government restrictions? Use Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto. Go here for details. Click here to learn what technologies might help you bypass censorship in your area.
March 29th, 2010 at 6:07 pm
I think that the prices will rise, I’m afraid that “If consumers absorb the price increases without issue” that they might think it’s okay to hike the prices again. Then the people who take their family’s to movies will stop going all together. Some companies will bring a price competition and have to lower prices to match that of companies like Imax, here http://www.imax.com shows some of their up coming movies. Imax is a 3d movie business if they change their prices others will follow.