Why are movie tickets all the same price? The movie theater could charge more for blockbusters, less for unpopular movies.Let's put it this way: why do plays and symphony concerts have "rush tickets" where they try to fill the unsold seats at discount prices, but movie theaters don't? Answer: The concert hall's seats for sale really are an expiring resource. At rush-ticket time the concert hall can be convinced that their choice is between taking half-price for the seat, or never getting any money from you at all. But since movies are recorded media, the movie industry taken as a whole does not face the same time pressure. If you only have four dollars' worth of interest in a movie, and not nine dollars, the movie industry has relatively little incentive to sell you a four-dollar ticket on opening weekend, even if the movie is not popular and there are many empty seats. The industry can get a few nine-dollar payers this weekend, and will still get your four dollars at the dollar movies next month, or when you rent the movie on DVD, etc. |