Movie prices rise at suburban Chicago theaters

Posted March 25, 2010 at 1:39 p.m.

By Alejandra Cancino
| Dinner and a movie? With higher ticket prices hitting box-offices around
the country Friday, Chicago residents may want to skip dinner to pay
for the movie.

Movie theaters in the city itself aren’t affected
by the price changes yet — the Navy Pier Imax Theater, for instance,
will continue to keep its adult ticket prices at $15 for 3-D showings,
and charge $11 for traditional movies. But suburban theaters are already
showing Friday’s price changes.


At the Regal Theater in Lincolnshire, adult tickets for showings of 3-D movies are increasing from $15 to $17, while traditional movie prices are increasing 50 cents — from $10 to $10.50. And at the AMC Imax theater in Hodgkins, adult prices for 3-D showings are rising from $14 to $17, while non-3-D tickets are still $10.

AMC Entertainment Inc. declined to comment, and Regal Entertainment Group wasn’t immediately available to comment.

Analyst Richard Greenfield of BTIG surveyed 10 theaters in different major cities across the country and found that, on average, they are raising ticket prices for 3-D movies by 8 percent this weekend. The price of a movie in 3-D on large format Imax screens is going up even faster, rising an average 10 percent for adults and 12 percent for children.

2-D ticket prices, meanwhile, are going up 4 percent on average for adults and 3 percent for children.

The average surcharge to see a movie in 3-D is now $4. For Imax 3-D, it has gone up to nearly $6.

Although BTIG’s survey is not nationwide and includes only major metro areas, it’s a clear sign that, despite the economic downturn, movie ticket prices continue to rise, with 3-D leading the way.

Ten years ago, the average ticket price was $5.39. Since then, prices have increased yearly between 2.2 percent to 5.1 percent, according to the Motion Picture Association of America.

The Los Angeles Times contributed to this story.

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5 comments:

  1. jack (the real one) March 25, 2010 at 3:19 pm

    “With higher ticket prices hitting box-offices around the country Friday, Chicago residents may want to skip dinner to pay for the movie.”
    Probably the opposite. With movies not being worth watching, and restaurants issuing a plethora of coupons, it makes more sense to have dinner. Usually, the coupon covers your spouse or date.

  2. Joe Cinema March 25, 2010 at 4:54 pm

    I don’t go to the theaters anymore because of the steep prices…why bother when I can easily get movies to watch at home for $1 from DVD rental kiosks. Besides, my buddy has a sweet home theater setup in his basement…I can watch blue-ray movies there with great picture clarity and awesome surround sound! Yeah, forget about paying for movie theater tickets.

  3. nancy March 26, 2010 at 8:05 a.m.

    Wow – movies are expensive!!! I don’t mind paying if I could be guaranteed that I will be able to see, won’t have someone eating through the entire movie or people talking to each other or on their cell phones through the entire movie!! With movie prices this high, the theaters should really monitor more!

  4. Linda March 26, 2010 at 2:35 pm

    Does the increase in the 3-D movie include the cost of the glasses or is that going to be an additional cost? Some places have you buy them and then ask you to donate them back.(what a joke). But I don’t think you can bring you own glasses to the next movie you see. Kind of goes against recycling.

  5. Alwin Schultze May 12, 2010 at 8:54 a.m.

    Blue Ray is a good format because it´s offer good film quality at home. Its a nice experience to get cinema feeling and to see the films when ever you want.