Would You Go See a Bad Movie if a Ticket Only Cost $5?

By Brad Tuttle | @bradrtuttle | April 26, 2011 | +

“Does it make more sense economically to screen a movie to a half-empty theater if everyone pays $10, or to a full theater if everyone pays $5?”

“Dynamic” or “variable” pricing—in which prices rise or fall according to demand, and which Ticketmaster will soon be using for concerts and sporting events—is discussed as a possibility for movie tickets in David Lazarus’s LA Times column.

Lazarus is a fan of the idea, even if it does lead to people getting angry—like they do on airplanes—when finding out they paid more than the person in the next seat. Lazarus argues:

I don’t know about you, but I’d definitely see more movies if they weren’t priced at $10 or more per ticket, especially considering the quality of most of what gets released by studios each year.

I recently saw “Sex and the City 2″ on HBO. I feel sorry for anyone who paid top dollar to see that stinker at a theater.

MORE:
Why Everybody Hates ‘Sex and the City 2′ So Much

Related Topics: David Lazarus, dynamic pricing, miscellany, movies, Sex and the City, TicketMaster

  • Latest on Moneyland

    Getty Images
    Odd Spending May 25, 2012

    L.A. Parents Pony Up For Kids’ V.I.P. Lounge Access at Sixth-Grade Dance

    Most middle-school kids have better things to think about than whether or not they’re members of the 1%. But one Los Angeles charter school upped the ante on the usual social anxieties of its annual dance when it installed a “V.I.P. lounge” — with a separate cover charge. On top of the $15 dance admission, students — or, more likely, their parents — can choose to pay an additional $5 to be a cool kid — excuse me, get access to a special “V.I.P.” area. 

    From our Partners

    America's Uneven Economic Recovery: The 10 Best and 10 Worst CitiesDaily Finance

    Adam Gault / Getty Images
    Saving May 25, 2012

    Too Much to Drink? AAA’s ‘Tipsy Tow’ Offers Free Rides for You & Your Car This Weekend

    To prevent drunk driving, AAA clubs around the country are offering free rides to folks who’ve celebrated too much to safely get behind the wheel over Memorial Day weekend. They’ll also tow your car home—again, free of charge. Amazingly, the service is available even if you’re not a AAA member.

  • http://dontknow667.wordpress.com rbreau1

    Is this article intended as a joke or does the author lack economic sense?

    I have to ask a question before I can answer the half empty theater question. Will having a full theater mean that the profit from extra popcorn, softdrinks etc will pay for the extra people working?

    Since the revenue is identical in half full or full I can only consider expenses…

  • http://colinrbrown.wordpress.com colinrbrown

    No. I spent a Summer working in Wisconsin recently. I visited the movie theater most nights. I walked out of 80% of what I saw, because it was more valuable to me to not see an atrocious film – as now, sadly, most of them are.

    Reducing the price doesn’t help. When the TV offers more than most films, why pay to watch dreadful films with inane plots, no ideas, and clodded up with CGI.

    Movies need to get better not cheaper. I will pay to see a good movie multiple times. I am a grown-up by the way – and I read too.

blog comments powered by Disqus