It's true, cinemas can only make money from the popcorn etc because the film companies are doing them over in turn. The only people who are not being done over are those at the top of the chain – the studios, and the big stars.

$20m for six months work – do me a favour.

That's where your money is going.

No matter what£ 6.40 for a drink and pop corn is eyewateringly expensive, and the fact you say "we're all on minimum wage" would make me even angrier because I reckon there's probably £5.50's worth of mark up there!!!

So are you saying that cinemas are not a business and shouldn't be allowed to make money? Cinemas aren't charities! It's actually very difficult for a cinema to make money – try setting one up yourself and see how you get on, without charging high prices for either tickets or food (or both) AND provide comfy seats, pleasant air conditioning for everyone, clean toilets, quality sound and projection, and friendly, enthusiastic customer service.

I'm sure the vast majority of people know that food at cinemas is expensive and always has been (for me anyway, and I'm 30) so why do people still insist on buying it then moaning about the price!

Re: chicken and egg – its accepted that people bring their own food and cinemas would probably lose a significant number of customers if they weren't allowed to. The high prices reflect the only way that a large cinema can make money to pay their staff, cover overheads etc as your ticket price covers largely distribution only.

Oh, and I'm not saying that I don't like the high prices either, but that's how it is and always will be, so you either accept it and enjoy the cinema experience, or don't go! Just don't complain to the cinema staff about it…

There is definitely a 'no bring your own' policy at Reel Cinemas.

When challenged (which I was) I asked if they could guarantee their concessions were nut free? They backed off.

I only asked 🙂

100% sure neither myself or my sprogs have any kind of allergy..

That said, I don't mind ticket prices too much – only go maybe 3 times a year, and it's not bad value really for the experience. I know several people with very high end TVs and BluRay and Surround, and whilst it's very very very good, it still isn't the same as a monster screen.

Old and tight? No, just sensible in my opinion.

I haven't bothered with going to the cinema for years. If a film looks like it is going to be any good I just wait until the DVD comes out and then wait another couple of months until it is reduced to half price. That way I can watch the film for less than the price of a cinema ticket in a comfy seat with a few beers and not have to worry about some chav in the row behind chewing with his mouth open whilst talking into a mobile phone.

hebden bridge cinema is best if you'll waite a bit longer. £4 or something per adult and theres loads of leg room

I genuinely don't understand the vastly inflated prices, don't they understand the tesco philosophy – low profit high turnover?

e.g. bag of minstrels costs 50p to them
Asda/Tesco etc. charge £1.00
Cinema charges £3.00
Person buys minstrels in tesco
Profit to cinema = £0

Cinema charges £1.50
Far more people buy in cinema rather than extra hassle of going prepared
Profit to cinema = £1 per bag

Kit – Member

Naranjada – Member

I refuse to buy popcorn at the concession stand, all I can see is 10p worth of ingredients for a large bag.

I support my local, independent cinema and the people who make the films that they show.

I think that's what you meant to say. The cost of cinema tickets covers distribution of the reel (or digital copy if the cinema has a digital projector) and basically goes straight back to the distributor and the film makers. Which is good. But doesn't pay for the existence of the cinema, which makes its money through the sale of food and drink.

Well thanks for putting me straight. I was referring to the Cornerhouse in Manchester, to whose accounts I do not have access. I can ask Tom next time I'm in there though. I can tell you that they don't sell popcorn, nachos, hotdogs or fizzy drinks, but they do have a bar/cafe/restaurant/niche bookshop that they obviously profit from. I simply do not take your point that they make nothing from the cost of admission. And what about the advertising?

Back in the day I got kicked out of a cinema… me and a mate took a bucket of KFC in with us and the woman behind complained.

the same fella got kicked out of pizza hut when he stuck his head under the ice cream machine.

ebygomm – cinemas adopt the same philosophy as motorway service stations i.e. a captive audience (so to speak). You'd be surprised how many people actually buy food at the cinema. Folk tend not to plan ahead and so buy what's on site at the time. And of course maybe customers weren't hungry when they left home or didn't think they would be, and then at the cinema there's all this food on offer so they get tempted. Marketing plays a part too.

I can't be the only one who thinks I'd prefer to have nothing at all than pay that price

I guess we must be outnumbered by the easily tempted people though

Well thanks for putting me straight. I was referring to the Cornerhouse in Manchester, to whose accounts I do not have access. I can ask Tom next time I'm in there though. I can tell you that they don't sell popcorn, nachos, hotdogs or fizzy drinks

Ah I see, so when you said "concession stand" and then mentioned your local cinema I was to assume that the two were not connected? I can't mind read so sorry for misrepresenting you!

I simply do not take your point that they make nothing from the cost of admission. And what about the advertising?

What about advertising? Do you mean "doesn't advertising make the cinema a profit"? Well probably not, no! And of course you're assuming that every film that's shown at every time on every day of the week has enough customers to pay for the film – many early morning, daytime and late weekend shows will get very few customers (if any!) however the cinema still has to pay its staff and overheads to run the film for several hours with or without paying guests. And outwith 'summer' (i.e. July/August) and Christmas/New Year, cinemas are usually pretty quiet except for opening Friday/Saturdays of new releases so there's very little income generated during the remainder of the year.

Perhaps Tom's business model is very different, but for big cinemas then the above would apply.

What is it with cinemas and enormous seats these days? Stupid oversize things that wobble about alarmingly, half an inch of leg room, the rake is so flat even average height people can't see properly.

Fair enough Kit.

Cornerhouse have reduced the number of screenings in the last year due to financial constraints. And there are deffo more adverts than ever. Like you say, if there's nobody to see a film what's the point in showing it?

It's a precarious business.

I genuinely don't understand the vastly inflated prices, don't they understand the tesco philosophy – low profit high turnover?

I'm sure they've thought about it a bit.

Lots of people buy stuff at the cinema. Only a certain percentage of careful money-minders will 'plan ahead' and bring stuff with them. Everyone else will pay £3.50.

The cost of cinema tickets covers distribution of the reel (or digital copy if the cinema has a digital projector) and basically goes straight back to the distributor and the film makers. Which is good. But doesn't pay for the existence of the cinema, which makes its money through the sale of food and drink.

Not entirely accurate.

Payment to distributor is on a percentage of ticket sales, but it only kicks in once a minimum amount has been recovered from overall ticket sales to cover the cinema's fixed costs. The percentage varies from film to film, and depending how assertive the cinema is in their negotiations could see the distributor taking an 80% cut.

There are some awful films that the cinema will be under contract to show, for at least a minimum number of screenings per week, but this is part of the overall package agreed between the head office and the distributor.

In terms of concessions, cinemas need to inflate their prices to turn a profit, and they go for price over increased sales. Pence/spend per person is the key driver in concessions, hence the proliferation of combo deals and hot dogs (pointless food for cinema snacking IMO as they're gone in seconds). If anything, discount schemes like Orange Wednesdays erode the spend per person as those most likely to seek a bargain are those least likely to spend on concessions.

In terms of income spread over the year, the business forecasts will be driven on the anticipated performance of new releases, and so stock and staffing will be adjusted accordingly. It is still possible to turn a profit through the year while maintaining a consistent margin. The admissions will be down when there's nothing out, but so will the number of staff on the floor.

Do you mean "doesn't advertising make the cinema a profit"? Well probably not, no!

It does. Internal posters, slides, standees and audio/video tracks do contribute to the bottom line. While trailers increase potential future sales and are required by contract from the distributor, the actual paid-for advertising is separate to this and its benefit can be clearly measured.

Alasdair
Ex cinema manager

Ex cinema manager

I love STW 🙂

Some more factoids as knowledge is power and all that. Anything from 35%-80% of the ticket price can make its way straight to the distributor. That figure is based several factors including how much the distributor knows it can squeeze out of the cinemas due to demand (e.g. Avatar 70%) and how many titles released by that distributor the cinema has/will agree to show throughout the year. The remaining cut of the box office sales may just cover the running costs of the cinema, but this is very unlikely. Therefore, the bulk of the profit must therefore come from food sales.

The argument that reducing food prices would make more money in the long run by increasing food sales is rubbish. The suits at head office have calculated the premium prices that people will pay to strike the balance between food sales and profits. If they could make more money by charging less for food, don't you think they would be doing it?!

Consider the running costs of these places. You're looking at monthly ground rent for the site itself running to 6 figures for multiplexes. The energy requirements to power the Xenon bulb in the projector for 2+ hours. The air con to cool/heat the cavernous room. Gas. Water. Property tax. COG's. Cleaning supplies. Couriers. Maintenance. Advertising. IT. The payroll to clean up the filth left after each showing (as people no longer have the manners to put their rubbish in bins anymore). How about the body fluid kits to clean up the vomit on a Saturday afternoon because parents think it’s a good idea to ply their kids with pure carbs?

Ticket price is subjective as mentioned before. £7.00 for 2 hours of entertainment you can at least research beforehand to gauge if you will enjoy it? Or £40 to watch your footy team lose in the pouring rain. £30 for a restaurant meal for two. I’d spend £7.00 in an hour whilst at the pub…

I’m not defending the chains here, I’m aware of how much the cinema I work at makes each year, it just really bugs me when people go on and on about these same issues. Please, please, don’t moan about the food and drink. Just don’t buy it! I’m pretty sure the human body can survive without food and drink for two hours. Ask for tap water if you must or smuggle in some sweets. Why do people feel the need to consume a full meal whilst watching a movie FFS? It constantly amazes me how many families turn up to watch terrible, terrible kids films, whine on and on about the prices, all on perfectly sunny days when they could be in the park or exploring the countryside for free actually engaging with their kids.

If I had to spend £8 on food of the guilty pleasure variety it would be A 'spoons beer and burger before or after the movie… Cinemas are great if you're stuck away from home or something, but I just don't feel the magic the way I used to…

It's all about perceived value, isn't it.

On the one hand, thirty quid to watch a film and get a catering pack of stale popcorn is extortionate.

On the other hand, an evening out for all the family and you only spent 30 quid, that's a bargain.

As an aside, many moons ago I used to work in a bowling alley, one of the big national chains. They were no strangers to charging high prices, the branch manager used to justify this by saying that you're not just paying for a drink or whatever, you're paying for the 'experience,' ie. for your time spent hanging out in the 'bowl.

Some of the pricing was pretty interesting though; one of the single biggest mark-ups in the entire building was on soft drinks. A 'large' Coke (cost to the consumer, around two quid) actually cost less to buy in than one of those little pots of ketchup (cost to the consumer, about 10p); the stuff's almost pure profit. It's kind of ironic which price generated the most complaints.

Regardless of all the above, in my mind £4.10 for a bag of whank popcorn is a rip off!

it just really bugs me when people go on and on about these same issues. Please, please, don’t moan about the food and drink. Just don’t buy it!

High fives Dreg! Just finished my box office shift – lots of happy customers tonight as we do cheap tickets. Bargain at £2.60 🙂

Cinemas charge what they do because people will pay it, end of.

The same applies in any business, it's just that it seems worse at a cinema when you're buying in such big quantities. Scale down cinema postmix drink serving sizes and they're comparable with pub prices but people miss this fact.

They're overpriced in pubs too. (-:

hot date
dark cinema
popcorn with a hole cut in the bottom
Nuff said!