Why is everything so over priced at the movie theater?

I went to see a movie a few days ago and a water was $4.00, can you believe that.

Why do you think the popcorn and drinks, snacks, etc at the movie theater are so outrageously priced?

Why is everything so over priced at the movie theater?opera music

I work for a movie theatre in cincinati. The reason we have to charge so much for our movies tickets/ consessions is because the theatres pay the actors, hollywood, the directors, producers etc.. For every $9.00 ticket we sell we make 25 cents in proftit, for every $6.25 ticket we sell we make 10 cents. We have to charge that much just in order to make enough to keep the theatre open for one month.

Why is everything so over priced at the movie theater?opera sheet music opera theater

the problem is that movie theaters make only like a dollar of every ticket sold and make more of their money on concession's but with less people buying snacks at the movies the price start to get outrageous. so support your local movie theater buy the junk food.
The theatres are doing us a big favor. By making food expensive, we might refrain from overeating (the all american pastime) while watching movies, and this might make us healthier. Just a thought !!!
I am not a cheapskate, but I bring my own bottled water or a soda in my pocketbook. The soda costs so much and always tastes like it's 90% seltzer. They do it because they know it is an American habit to eat like you're not going to eat for a month while shoving fist fulls of popcorn out of a barrel.
I agree the candy counter at movie theaters should be selling caviar for what they charge! The only answer to why they charge so much is that people are willing to pay it. If you are a guy taking out a girl you want to impress you can't very well tell her that the popcorn is too expensive. And if you are a parent with a screaming kid, it's almost worth any price to get them to shut-up. If you are alone, you might feel like a little indulgence. If you are with friends, you don't want them to think you are poor if they are all buying something so the odds are you will pay too. My idea? Eat before you go and bring a candy bar and soda in your purse. (smile)
I know its happening dese days a lot!
cuz they know that thats the only way you can get food and that practiacally everyone ususlly gets something

tahts why they dont let you bring food in either they want to to spend $$$
because they dont make money off the ticket sales, they make the money off the concessions.
So they can make money.
Because we keep going and paying it, thinking that we don't have any choice, but if we stopped going to the theater and just waited for the DVD's to come out, the prices would eventually go down or the theaters would go away.
So the company can make millions that may also help movie starts pay for their 10 million dollar homes and 20 cars.
Because people pay it. If they stopped buying it or even going to the theaters, they'd be forced to lower their prices. I don't go much, if at all, myself.
Because they can.

As long as people buy the crap at that price, they will sell it. Plain and simple.

Same for the price of the movie tickets.

This is a scenario that defies the competition theory, that if a competitor sets up shop, the prices will go down.
to make more profit
They have to make a profit to pay employees, insurance, permits,repairs to furniture and fixtures in the theaters, inspectors and delivery people, paper suppliers, cleaning equipment and products, refuse collection, taxes, carpet cleaning, state of the art video and audio equipment and the upkeep. And then they must be able to feed cloth and house their families.
I asked one time (at the theatre)... I believe the response was to help pay for the movie selection and keep the theatre open. Because of Video stores, HBO, Pay-per-view-type operations, the theatres are having tough times.
And they don't even have the good candy anymore.
The profit margin on showing the film itself is a very narrow one. The real profit at the theatre is on the concessions. Since i am "captive" at the movies, I concede to your over inflated prices for food, snacks, and beverages. How do i dare expect you to operate at less than a profit? But, $4 for water?? That must be relative to the real estate market where you are and land tax rates.
Because thats where they make their money
Cuz they know u will have no choice but to buy food from them.
Because people keep paying it. Personally, I wait for the DVD.
They need all of the money that they can get!!!!!
I think that it is because the theaters rely mostly on consession sales to make their money. I dont think they get much on the movies themselves.

It's like a gas station, They dont make their money on the sale of gas. Its the stuff they sell inside that brings in the money.
The movie theatre makes the majority of it's profits from the concessions- which is why they are so over priced. Usually you can sneak a water or drink in your purse without them knowing =)
Because movies are usually coming to dvd in a month or so, and a lot of people are buying projectors and screens for their homes, and they predict that by 2009 movies will be in dvd from theatre to dvd in about 2 weeks, so nobody will go to movie theatres and thats a fact, another fact is that by late 2012 they expect movies to be from the studios directly to dvds.
The movie theaters actually don't make any money from ticket sales. They have to pay to carry the movie, and for the people who work there, all out of the profits they make on vending. In other words everything you see in a movie theater is payed for by the snacks and drinks. Which is why you should sneak in food.
Because we are dumb enough to pay it, I guess.
Profit
Not enough people are going to the movie so the price of refreshments are jacked up. I once used to go to two movies in one night, now I rarely, rarely go. The big sound experience scares me away.
B/c the theaters are owned by communists!!
Probably because most people sneak in their own stuff so when people do buy something, they have to make a good profit. Here, nachos are $5.