Reply #16: That may be, but that's what keeps the places open. [View All]

[RaleighNCDUer]

The money paid for tickets covers the film itself and hardly anything more. It's the concessions that pays the salaries and keeps the lights on.

It may not seem that way when 'Twilight' packs the house at $8.50 a pop, but two screens down something else is playing that won't pay for its own rental. You hear about a movie that didn't make it's production costs, but it's still in the theaters - it has to be subsidized by the success of the other movies. Overall, they pretty much balance out, leaving the theaters supporting themselves with $7 popcorn and $6 sodas. It's the only place where they can make a profit.

BTW, if you have a problem with stale popcorn complain to the manager. Any GOOD theater will pop fresh before every show, and keep popping through the day. There is no excuse for theater popcorn being more than 4 hours old. The profit margin on it is high enough that they can throw out any that is stale.