It's Not Just You: Average Movie Ticket Price Hits Another All-Time High

It’s Not Just You: Average Movie Ticket Price Hits Another All-Time High

It’s been a brutal summer for the major studios, who’ve sufferedone expensive flop after another, but it turns out now’s not really a great time to be a moviegoer, either. The National Association of Theatre Owners reports that average ticket prices in the U.S. have hit an all-time high of $8.73, thanks in a large part to premium formats like IMAX and 3D for smash hits likeFinding DoryandCaptain America: Civil War.

According to the organization’s calculations (viaVariety), tickets cost an average of $8.73 in the second quarter of 2016, a period that includedThe Jungle Book,Alice Through the Looking Glass,X-Men: Apocalypse, andWarcraft. While $8.73 might sound dirt cheap in certain parts of the country (admission is often twice that in New York City, where I live), the data is pulled from all markets including smaller or more remote ones where the cost of living might be lower in general.

The cost of admission is about 1.4% from the same timeframe last year, whenInside Out,Jurassic World,Furious 7,Mad Max: Fury Road, andAvengers: Age of Ultronwere in theaters and ticket prices averaged out to $8.61. The previous record was $8.70, set in the fourth quarter of 2015.Star Wars: The Force Awakens,The Martian,Spectre, andThe Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2were among the major titles released during that time.

The higher prices don’t make up for the fact that overall attendance is down, however. Ticket sales are down about 9.5% from the second quarter of last year, thanks to a strong of high-profile flops and disappointments. But audiences are paying more when they do go to theaters, because they’re shelling out extra for IMAX, 3D, and other premium experiences (like 4DX, AMC Prime, etc.). Those fancy formats aren’t going anywhere, so we can probably look forward to having this conversation all over again in a few months whenRogue One: A Star Wars Storyhits theaters.