I do it every time! I feel like a fool paying $30 for popcorn, soda and candy!
And that's after paying $12 per ticket just to get in, $7 more if you see a movie in IMAX or 3D!!!
I feel some sort of satisfaction passing up the concession stand, sitting down and opening up my bag of goodies.

Bottled drinks.

Yep! In fact,I need to buy a bigger movie purse.


One time we snuck canned drinks and chips into the movies. The clerk asked to see my i.d. I opened my purse and BAM! my bag of chips fall out.


We go inside pop the tabs on the sodas and everyone turns around to look at us

NOPE!

I boldly walk in with my shit like "what, bitches?"

no.

We went to see Michael Jackson's "This is it" someone brought a complete chicken dinner (it smelled gooood)

Yes.

Yeah, as a box of candy from the movies costs $5 when I can buy it at the drug store next door for $1.50. I haven't bought movie refreshments in probably 5 years.

Yes

Hell 2 tha YEAH!! That shit is TOO expensive.

I have pizza delivered.

I haven't eaten actual movie concession stand food in I don't know how long

Try as they might ,they just can't compete with my prosciutto sandwiches made on foccaccia, quiche tartlets or whole grain cookies...for 1/3 the price of whatever the heck they charge these days.

Ottensen said:

Damn, I want to go to the movies with you.

Stax said:

Me too.

There's an art house cinema in Cleveland that has a menu along those lines. And you can buy some really good beers and wines to enjoy during the films, too. I miss that joint.

yes

Ottensen said:

Yeah, the quiche tartlets at AMC totally suck.

I think I knew how to make popcorn on the stove almost as early as I could read. Popcorn was big in my family. We used to make up a batch before going to a movie and bring it in in a grocery bag.

Now I don't bring anything in (I did bring in alcohol once, though).

JustErin said:

Yes!!! It ain't a movie if I don't BmyOB.

And sometimes burgers. My Princely motorcycle jacket has sweet pockets...

I have purses big enough to sneak things in all the time. Bottled waters, burgers, fries (just put them in ziploc bags). I can buy some Raisinets at CVS before I get to the movie and pay way less for it. So hell yes I sneak stuff in!!!

OMG, I hate concession food most of the time.

I used to work in a movie theatre's concession stand and if you saw what the 'butter' looked like before it was melted you'd vomit. It looks sort of like a large cylinder of earwax. And smells somewhat like unwashed balls.


Anyways, I don't always, but sometimes like if we're dining before the movie and the food takes forever to get to us--we'll sneak that into the theater.


It's a double edged sword. In 1991 (back when I worked a movie theater), it cost about 70 thousand dollars for one film purchase (like Batman). Movie theaters make very little or no money off of the films--they make their bucks off of the concession sales. That's why I get irritated when I see slow or lazy concession workers--because they're just hurting the theater owner's bottom line, especially if it's a indie theater.

But on the flip side, as a consumer, it's VERY expensive to watch a movie. You could easily be out a hundred or more bucks for a medium sized family to go see a movie--and that's kind of sad. I don't blame folks for sneaking food in.

Wow, man.

I never knew that. Now I feel like a jerk.

But do they really get enough people to actually come in and buy that overpriced shit?

I'd buy it there if the shit was reasonable and I think most other people would too. But I paid 4.00 for a large soda in 2005 cause the small was 3.50 and the chick stuck me with the upsell.

Why not lower prices, sell more and actually turn a profit?

DrRockdapuss said:

They make a decent profit off the sales of concessions for sure.

I'm using 1990 figures here, so things may have changed but....


It cost the theater:

12 cents per bag of popcorn....sold for $4.25
16 cents for cup of coke .... sold for $3.75

The profit margin on candy is lower.

But the strategy is serve as many folks as fast as you can. That's why everything is priced in 25 cent increments---so you don't have to use the cash register to figure out the total. (we were actually trained to add up amounts very quickly--faster than finding the item on the register--and we simply inventoried cups and bags afterwords to see how much we sold of each). Today I see lazy ass concession workers and I wonder why the theater owners don't step up the game---they're losing money with each slow worker.

Theaters used to sell buy 2 for the price of one bags of popcorn, but that didn't work. People feel like they're 'pigging' out and feel awkward when they buy 2 bags for themselves---but they don't feel any guilt about buying the same amount in a 'larger' size for just 25 cents more.


Anyways, the point of what I'm saying is that concession sales are VERY important to movie theaters. VERY, VERY important.
That's why they don't allow food into theatre--it has nothing to do with health, cleanliness, or brand protection---it's all got to do with survival and profit.

If you're ever interested in opening an small, indea theater, make sure you have a kick ass concession stand or coffee shop with workers who work very very fast.




Again, I'm not saying you SHOULD buy from the concession--I support anybody who brings their own snacks and food. I'm just stating why it's so important to theaters.

No, man. I'm glad you said that, cause I really thought they were makin money off the films. In my area, theaters have disappeared like quaggas. I thought it was the proliferation of black market bootleg stuff.

But really, they should come down on the markup if that's really where their focus is. You don't see McDonald's sellin $4 sodas.

TheVoid said:

When I said that I've have pizza delivered, I meant delivered to the people working at the concession counter.

I used to take baby back ribs into the movies! back when I could afford movies and baby back ribs.

@ The Void -
Man, I'm glad you broke it down like that, as i didn't know. It doesn't change my mind. It's all about the dollars and "sense."

I agree, if the prices were reasonable, i would buy from the stand. I just feel like I'm being taken advantage of, almost raped. I want to cry after I spend that kind of money on just popcorn and soda. It just makes a crappy movie even worse.

I remember when I used to go movies for the hell of it. If I had a couple of hours to kill, it was a great escape even if the movie was bad. Now I hardly ever go because it's way too expensive and I'll end up seeing it on DVD in a few months. The worst part is I can own a copy of the film for less than a one ticket price.

It all doesn't make sense to me.

Bulldog said:

Understandable... but for some reason, it's tough to beat that feeling when you went to see somethin in the theater and you genuinely loved it and wanna see it again right after. There's something of a sanctuary there. It's unique to the experience. Until they find a way to replicate that at home, I think there'll always be a need for the cinema.

DrRockdapuss said:

The bootleg market is hurting movie theaters because the fewer people who go the movie, the fewer cups of soda and bags of popcorn cinemas sell.



But let's look at it here in Bangkok, shall we?
Going to the cinema here is still a luxury for most folks. But the theaters are thriving, and always packed.


The reason is the 'atmosphere' and the fact that in Bangkok, theaters are always part of a larger shopping and entertainment complex--they're never standalone. So the theater will have a bowling alley, sometimes a bar or nightclub, a coffee shop, etc. etc.---all bunched together and raking in the money.


And I don't think folks will ever give up on the theater even with pimp home theaters---if you're dating a hot girl, you want to show her off.


I like the theater experience. I just don't care for concession food.

I rest my case!!!

http://online.wsj.com/art...72876.html

Movie Tickets Reach the $20 Mark

By LAUREN A. E. SCHUKER

For the first time, a major Hollywood film will hit the $20 threshold at the box office, as movie-theater owners test the public's ability to absorb ever higher ticket prices.

Several theaters will charge $20 per adult ticket to IMAX showings of the animated 3-D family film "Shrek Forever After," the fourth "Shrek" installment from DreamWorks Animation. The theaters include the AMC theater in Manhattan's Kips Bay neighborhood, AMC Loews 34, AMC Loews Lincoln Square and AMC Empire 42nd Street.

The increases weren't officially announced, but were reflected in prices posted Wednesday on movie-ticketing Web sites such as Fandango.com and tracked by BTIG LLC media analyst Richard Greenfield.

"With the state of the economy remaining questionable, we worry pricing is simply moving up too quickly," cautioned Mr. Greenfield in a research blog post, adding that he was especially concerned about how quickly children's ticket prices are increasing. "The danger is scaring consumers away from the movie theaters."

This weekend's price increase come less than eight weeks after theater operators instituted some of the steepest hikes in a decade. Those increases in late March—in some cases of as much as 26%—varied theater to theater and focused on 3-D and IMAX showings of another DreamWorks Animation title, "How to Train Your Dragon." The same AMC theater in Manhattan charged $19.50 for an IMAX showing of "Dragon."

View Full Image

Parmount Pictures via Bloomberg News
This weekend's increases come less than eight weeks since the theater operators instituted some of the steepest hikes in a decade in late March. Above, "Shrek: Forever After" features the voices of comedian Eddie Murphy for Donkey and Mike Myers for Shrek.

The $20 ticket may prove to be a psychological barrier too steep for some moviegoers to overcome, but the industry appears ready to take the risk, especially in the wake of a string of 3-D blockbusters, from "Avatar" to "Alice in Wonderland." 3-D movies accounted for the vast majority of last year's 10% jump in domestic box-office sales. That figure is likely to climb even higher for 2010.

While box-office revenues are up about 6% this year compared to the same period last year, attendance is slightly down—a reversal from several months of rapid expansion at the box office and a record-breaking year in 2009, when attendance was up more than 5%