2010 saw one of the biggest increases in movie ticket prices of all time. Yet despite confirmed reports of theaters charging $50 for IMAX 3D showings, the actual, overall price hike only averages out to around a 39-cent increase. Average ticket prices rose more than 5% from $7.50 in 2009 to $7.89 in 2010 according to The Wrap. It’s worth noting that last year annual inflation only rose 2.3%. Movie ticket prices outpaced inflation by almost 3%.
So maybe that’s one of the biggest annual increases in recent history, but with $50 movie tickets becoming the norm in some areas I’d say it could have been a lot worse. The thing really keeping that number from being closer to the $10 plus per ticket most of us are familiar with, are 2D showings which haven’t really increased in price at all, while 3D prices have skyrocketed to ridiculous levels. It’ll be interesting to see what effect this has in 2011 as theaters convert even more screens to 3D, phasing out those unchanged 2D ticket prices which kept that average within the realm of the reasonable. Expect to see me here at this same time next year talking about even bigger percentage increases.
Here’s a complete breakdown of ticket prices over the years as detailed by the National Association of Theater Owners:
| Year | Row 0 - Cell 1 | Price |
| 2010 | Row 1 - Cell 1 | $7.89 |
| 2009 | Row 2 - Cell 1 | $7.50 |
| 2008 | Row 3 - Cell 1 | 7.18 |
| 2007 | Row 4 - Cell 1 | 6.88 |
| 2006 | Row 5 - Cell 1 | 6.55 |
| 2005 | Row 6 - Cell 1 | 6.41 |
| 2004 | Row 7 - Cell 1 | 6.21 |
| 2003 | Row 8 - Cell 1 | 6.03 |
| 2002 | Row 9 - Cell 1 | 5.80 |
| 2001 | Row 10 - Cell 1 | 5.65 |
| 2000 | Row 11 - Cell 1 | 5.39 |
| 1999 | Row 12 - Cell 1 | 5.06 |
| 1998 | Row 13 - Cell 1 | 4.69 |
| 1997 | Row 14 - Cell 1 | 4.59 |
| 1996 | Row 15 - Cell 1 | 4.42 |
| 1995 | Row 16 - Cell 1 | 4.35 |
| 1994 | Row 17 - Cell 1 | 4.08 |
| 1993 | Row 18 - Cell 1 | 4.14 |
| 1992 | Row 19 - Cell 1 | 4.15 |
| 1991 | Row 20 - Cell 1 | 4.21 |
| 1990 | Row 21 - Cell 1 | 4.22 |
| 1989* | Row 22 - Cell 1 | 3.99 |
| 1988 | Row 23 - Cell 1 | 4.11 |
| 1987 | Row 24 - Cell 1 | 3.91 |
| 1986 | Row 25 - Cell 1 | 3.71 |
| 1985 | Row 26 - Cell 1 | 3.55 |
| 1984 | Row 27 - Cell 1 | 3.36 |
| 1983 | Row 28 - Cell 1 | 3.15 |
| 1982 | Row 29 - Cell 1 | 2.94 |
| 1981 | Row 30 - Cell 1 | 2.78 |
| 1980 | Row 31 - Cell 1 | 2.69 |
| 1979 | Row 32 - Cell 1 | 2.47 |
| 1978 | Row 33 - Cell 1 | 2.34 |
| 1977 | Row 34 - Cell 1 | 2.23 |
| 1976 | Row 35 - Cell 1 | 2.13 |
| 1975 | Row 36 - Cell 1 | 2.03 |
| 1974 | Row 37 - Cell 1 | 1.89 |
| 1971 | Row 38 - Cell 1 | 1.65 |
| 1967 | Row 39 - Cell 1 | 1.22 |
| 1963 | Row 40 - Cell 1 | .86 |
| 1958 | Row 41 - Cell 1 | .68 |
| 1954 | Row 42 - Cell 1 | .49 |
| 1948 | Row 43 - Cell 1 | .36 |
