Bargain Theatre Tickets
How exactly are theatrical box office receipts calculated?
We all hear how various movies make $10-, $50-, $100-million on any given weekend (specifically ‘opening weekend’ figures.)
How are those figures calculated?
Is it based on standard ticket prices for each theatre and showing of the film? (I’ve been to theatres that charge $8, some $9, others $10 per ticket….)
Is there a distinction made for different price structures, especially “bargain matinee” show prices? (My local AMC theatre has some matinee prices as low as $5.00.)
Or is there a standard dollar figure that’s calculated with the number of tickets sold, and the different prices are pure profit to the theatre chain?
(Any documented sources for responses will obviously get more weight in the voting process.)
Weekend box office charts show gross receipts for a given weekend, which is Friday through Sunday unless otherwise noted. Studio estimates for the weekend are reported on Sunday mornings, generally between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. Pacific Time and reflect estimated Friday and Saturday box office receipts plus a projection for Sunday. As with daily box office, weekend estimates do not reflect all movies playing in theaters, but at least the Top 12 plus select movies below that may be reported.
Actual weekend box office receipts are reported Monday, generally after 1 p.m. Pacific Time, and reflect most movies currently playing in the marketplace. A final update to the chart may be made Monday night or later in the week to reflect grosses that are reported late.
HOW WE ADJUST FOR INFLATION / EST. TICKETS
In most cases you can calculate the estimated number of tickets sold for a given movie by taking its box office gross and dividing it by the average ticket price at the time it was released. To adjust it for inflation (or see what it might have made in the past), you then multiply the estimated number of tickets sold by the average ticket price of the year you are converting to.
In some cases we are able to obtain the actual number of tickets sold and we use that figure to base adjustments off of (apart from its reported gross). Usually this is the case with older movies, especially those released in the 30s and 40s (like Gone with the Wind).
Some movies have been released several times over the decades, and we do account for this. For example, Snow White was released in 1937, but half of its lifetime gross is from re-releases in the 80s and 90s, so each of these releases is adjusted according to the year it earned its money.
Also, December releases may earn money in two separate years. To account for this we take a movie’s gross from its December opening until December 31 and adjust it according to the average ticket price that year, then adjust the remaining gross in the following year according to that year’s ticket price.
Still, many movies from the 80s to mid-90s may not have as extensive weekend box office data and many movies prior to 1980 may not have weekend data at all, so the full timeframe for when that movie made its money may not be available. In such cases (and where actual number of tickets sold is not available), we can only adjust based on its total earnings and the average ticket price for the year it was released. Still, this should be a good general guideline to gauge a movie’s popularity and compare it to other movies released in different years or decades
Year Avg. Price
2007 Est.$6.58
2005 $6.40
2004 $6.21
2003 $6.03
2002 $5.81
2001 $5.66
2000 $5.39
1999 $5.08
1998 $4.69
1997 $4.59
1996 $4.42
1995 $4.35
1994 $4.18
1993 $4.14
1992 $4.15
1991 $4.21
1990 $4.23
1989 $3.97
1988 $4.11
1987 $3.91
1986 $3.71
1985 $3.55
1984 $3.36
1983 $3.15
1982 $2.94
1981 $2.78
1980 $2.69
1979 $2.51
1978 $2.34
1977 $2.23
1976 $2.13
1975 $2.05
1974 $1.87
1973 $1.77
1972 $1.70
1971 $1.65
1970 $1.55
1969 $1.42
1968 $1.31
1967 $1.20
1966 $1.09
1965 $1.01
1964 $0.93
1963 $0.85
1962 $0.70
1961 $0.69
1959 $0.51
1956 $0.50
1954 $0.45
1953 $0.60
1951 $0.53
1949 $0.46
1948 $0.40
1945 $0.35
1944 $0.32
1943 $0.29
1942 $0.27
1941 $0.25
1940 $0.24
1939 $0.23
1936 $0.25
1935 $0.24
1934 $0.23
1929 $0.35
1924 $0.25
1910 $0.07
Source: MPAA (current year est. by BOM)
Bargain Garden Theatre Kantanka
|
|
Two Tickets Bargain Matinees Ramona Theatre San Diego $15.99 |
|
|
Why Popcorn Costs So Much at the Movies: And Other Pricing Puzzles $0.01 http://69.131.42.194/showpic.php?image=9780387769998.jpg… |
