[emsy]

I don’t know about the US, but I talked with a someone who runs a cinema in Germany and he said that for example Disney dictates the prices, leaving him with small margins. This is also the reason why they have to sell a certain amount of drinks and popcorn (at a high price point) to stay afloat.

[solarkraft]

If they continue like this cinemas will just die out.

My local cinema however is offering a "Sneak Preview" on Mondays. For 5€ you get to see some (unknown on ticket purchase) new movie that people have actually put some effort into (non "block busters", a.k.a. transformers part 500). There I have seen Shape of Water, Hotel Artemis and Searching. I will see another one this evening.

With adaptions like these maybe they'll survive a bit longer. I certainly enjoy the offering.

[TillE]

And Cinestar shows you a solid 25 minutes of ads before each film, in addition to the aggressive snack marketing including an intermission during long films.

Seriously the only time I watch movies is as a two-week binge during the Berlinale; the experience in Germany is completely unbearable otherwise.