It seems to happen every year at around this time. We start out with every intent to see a movie, and then another one that we want to see comes out, followed by another one, and before you know it the movie that we wanted to see is no longer playing.
I’m not saying that this is a bad thing, though, in the grand scheme of things.
Given the present cost of movie tickets, and the rapid availability of new movie releases on the home market, I’m no longer a fan of catching anything but the biggest blockbusters in the theater. Big, critically-acclaimed blockbusters, and anything with a twist ending.
Before I get to the economics of it all, I’ll start with the “getting older and grumpier” section of today’s entry. Back in the day, which wasn’t too long ago, people knew how to act right when they went to the movies. It’s not a complicated formula beyond the grasp of everyday people - you get your ticket, get your snacks, find a seat before the movie starts, and sit quietly for two hours.
Today, going to the movie theater involves dealing with a whole host of issues that are refreshingly absent from my living room. I’m always stuck sitting either directly behind or in front of the person who needs to carry on a full-on conversation with the person next to them, or on the phone, because they’re bored with the movie. Or, I’m a few seats away from the people who decided it was a good idea to bring their infant to an R rated film. Ultimately, the kid gets bored or scared, stands up in the aisle, and starts talking or otherwise demands appeasement, which never gets delivered, oh, in the hallway outside the theater, but right there - because the parents don’t want to leave the theater and miss part of the show. Parents and guardians, indeed.
And I get all of this for $9.50 a ticket. Yes, here’s where we start the economic part of today’s entry.
So, the cost for the two of us plus snacks runs about $25. For $25, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect a near-flawless moviegoing experience, with the only variable being the quality of the movie itself. If the movie has good reviews across the board, though, I want to be fully entertained, without distractions, for two hours for $25. I can safely say, and you all can chime in here, that in today’s modern world this is no longer possible. It gets even pricier if you’re taking an entire family out to the movies, so you’re looking at possibly dropping over $60 for two hours of distraction-filled entertainment for a mom, dad, and two kids.
Let’s turn to the economics in full. Even the biggest summer movies will last in the theaters for what, eight weeks at best? Bad or obscure movies will disappear even sooner than that, and we can all count on seeing new releases available for home rental much more quickly these days because that’s where the long-term profit lies.
Here’s an example. We missed the new Harold and Kumar movie when it was out a few weeks ago, despite really wanting to see it. As it turns out, as I have just Googled now, the DVD is going to be available on July 29. This, for a movie that was released on April 25, roughly three months ago.
We could put the movie on our Netflix queue, which means we would get to watch it and not pay any more than our $12 monthly subscription cost, and probably tack on quite a few others that we’ve missed and still be within that same pricing structure. We could rent it using Amazon Unbox, and pay $3.99. If we had an Apple TV, we could rent it off of iTunes and watch it for $3.99, or even in HD for a dollar more. Or, if I really were in love with the movie, I could just go out and buy the DVD and own the movie for $15 or less. I could even go to one of those red boxes in the supermarket and rent it overnight for a dollar.
My point is this - why would anyone pay so much money for all of the hassle and inconveniences associated with seeing a movie in the theater when, for so much less money, you could have such a better experience watching it at home?
For the price of two movie tickets, and the license to sit in a theater seat for two hours, you could own two movies and watch them whenever you wanted. For $60, you could pay for a Netflix subscription for five months, or rent twelve movies online.
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