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Comment by KallDrexx | Hacker News Reader

It's only unsustainable because of the current royalty structure. Most of the money actual theaters make is on concessions and I'm more likely to buy concessions when I'm not paying $15 per person for a single movie ticket.

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i have always heard that movies make most of their profit from concessions. if that is the case, i'm not at all surprised they're failing. i've always brought my own snacks because they're cheaper and/or tastier, and i rarely get given shit for it. the minute they make me feel uncomfortable about it, i stop patronizing that theatre.

Concession prices are why I stopped going to the movies. Unless I eat right before hand, I'm going to want a snack during the movie, but I'm not going to pay $15 for a Coke and some popcorn.

its pretty much the gas station model

How much would you pay for concessions if the theater didn't show movies because they didn't like the royalties? Or if they didn't show the movie you apparently want to see?

It's not a binary decision, the royalty structure is set in stone by movie studios and distributors. Theaters have no choice right now on how to license the movies and that's the part that is unsustainable (because theaters have almost no control over the price of a ticket). That's the truth of why the theater model is unsustainable and is more and more hard pressed to get traffic.

Giving theaters more lee-way on how to pay for the movies they are licensing will allow for much more competitive opportunities and differentiation between theaters.

But how can MoviePass change the royalty structure?

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