$50 for a Movie Ticket? The Day Has Come

The price of movie tickets just entered uncharted territory: $50 a pop. That's what Regal Cinemas recently charged for opening-night seats to Dune: Part Three shown in 70mm IMAX, and they sold out in minutes, reports Ben Fritz of the Wall Street Journal. It's part of a broader push to treat theaters more like airlines and hotels—squeezing extra dollars from fans willing to pay for premium screens and sound while overall attendance keeps slipping. Jonathan Small at Entrepreneur.com sums it up this way: "Movie buffs are paying top dollar while the rest of the country gets most entertainment from Netflix, YouTube, and TikTok."

Premium formats now account for 17% of tickets, up from 13% in 2021, with average prices of $18 and up to $30 in big cities, per the Journal. Regular adult tickets average $12.75. Chains are compensating for fewer bodies with higher "per patron" revenue, especially at the concession stand, where spending has jumped 220% in two decades. Studio executives—notably Tom Rothman of Sony Pictures—warn that the strategy risks turning moviegoing into an occasional splurge instead of a weekly habit, but theater owners complain they have no choice because studios are giving them fewer pictures these days.