Would You Go See a Bad Movie if a Ticket Only Cost $5?

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“Does it make more sense economically to screen a movie to a half-empty theater if everyone pays $10, or to a full theater if everyone pays $5?”

“Dynamic” or “variable” pricing—in which prices rise or fall according to demand, and which Ticketmaster will soon be using for concerts and sporting events—is discussed as a possibility for movie tickets in David Lazarus’s LA Times column.

Lazarus is a fan of the idea, even if it does lead to people getting angry—like they do on airplanes—when finding out they paid more than the person in the next seat. Lazarus argues:

I don’t know about you, but I’d definitely see more movies if they weren’t priced at $10 or more per ticket, especially considering the quality of most of what gets released by studios each year.

I recently saw “Sex and the City 2” on HBO. I feel sorry for anyone who paid top dollar to see that stinker at a theater.

MORE:
Why Everybody Hates ‘Sex and the City 2’ So Much