Are Movie Theaters Arcade Bound?

[Jeff Sorensen]

The only time I go to the theater is when it's to see a movie that would be better in theaters:

Gravity
Interstellar

Seeing those movies without experiencing them in a gigantic IMAX is a disservice to yourself. Try watching Gravity on a smartphone. It's a joke. I had the pleasure to see Interstellar on a real Imax at the Henry Ford Dearborn Museum. I was in awe of a movie that was made for a theater experience. But theaters are dying. Prices are rising. Movies are made with a gigantic budget because they still cast actors that ask for millions plus a backend of the profit of the movie.

I recently watched The Maze Runner. It looked like it cost 200 million. It only cost about 40 million or so. It made over 300 million and guaranteed a sequel. I didn't really recognize anyone in the film at all. Same thing with the movie District 9. Nobodies in the film. Sharlto Copley? No clue who that is, but he put up an Oscar worthy performance. Cost of the movie? 30 million? Profit? 211 million.

Theaters are dying because the movies that come out aren't good. They cost too much to make. Theaters have to sell popcorn that taste like hamster woodchips for like 10 bucks. Theaters only make money after the movie has been screening for a few weeks. Their % goes up the longer the movie stays in theaters.

Think of it like gas stations: Gas stations make maybe 1% of their money on gas. They make money on the convenience store aspect of it. Cigarettes are their popcorn.

Prices raise in theaters and then you see on the news that another movie has crossed the 200 million mark for a weekend release. Yeah, that's impressive until you realize that a ticket costs 20 because it's 3D and fake IMAX.

Check out the biggest movies ever....and then the biggest based on inflation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hig...sing_films

70's had prices of like 3 bucks a ticket.

Theaters are going to be extinct soon, but I can't predict when. 3D movies? That shit has constantly been a fad that has come and gone.