You probably already guessed what the top response in a PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers consulting firm) survey was in regards to what’s keeping people from going to the movie theater.
Yes, it’s the ticket prices.
Apparently, paying eight to fifteen dollars to see a film (which isn’t far from the cost of simply owning the film later on) in a theater setting is just too damned expensive. It’s a defensible point, considering that on average a family of four can spend seventy dollars in one night if you add refreshments to the ticket price totals. I don’t know about you, but coughing over extortion-level prices for tickets and junk food isn’t my ideal way to spend two hours of my evening.
Yes, technology in theaters is awesome now. Screens are massive, there’s 4K projectors, reclining seats, in-house dining and drink options, glorious new Dolby Atmos sound, blah blah…ad nauseum.
But if you can’t make it attractive to money-saving individuals and families, they will find the value they seek once the film releases to stores; they’ll buy the movie on blu-ray for twenty bucks and watch it at home on their fifty-inch LED TV with 7.1 surround sound (which sounds expensive, but one-time home entertainment investments are cheaper than ongoing nights out on the town, anyone can tell you that). Oh, and they can look at their phones, talk or fart all they want without disturbing the new couple that would be awkwardly cuddling in the recliner seats next to them had they gone to the fancy new AMC a few miles from their house.
Cinema Blend has more on this interesting survey.
