[TheFattestNinja]

There is a very good question about price perception there. What should be the "right" price for a cinema experience?

If you start from first principles and you compute it as "2.5 hours of entertainment in a climate controlled and comfortable environment with refreshments", it doesn't feel unreasonable to put it at 30$ (per person): that's in line with how much other comparable activities will set you back (escape rooms, paintball, whatever).

If you go from "the price has increased too much since I used to go there as a child/teen" then you are going to say that's way too much.

Some (most?) movies do feel better in a cinema than at home (at least to me). And this is without considering 3d, immersive sound/vibration or anything, just "vanilla" cinema. "Everything, everywhere, all at once" doesn't have the same ooomph on my tv.

I don't see them dying but they are endangered and niche. Bit like theatre.

[George83728]

> If you start from first principles and you compute it as "2.5 hours of entertainment in a climate controlled and comfortable environment with refreshments", it doesn't feel unreasonable to put it at 30$ (per person): that's in line with how much other comparable activities will set you back (escape rooms, paintball, whatever).

When I was a kid, my family didn't have AC so on hot summer days my mother would take us to a bookstore. Free AC and entertainment for hours, plus a few dollars for lunch (not in the bookstore, but nearby) and a few dollars more for the books we'd inevitably buy at the end of the day. These days, bookstores are mostly gone but public libraries have AC now so it's gotten even cheaper.

[letitbeirie]

> 2.5 hours of entertainment in a climate controlled and comfortable environment

I watched probably half of the movies I've ever seen during my last summer of college because the house I lived in didn't have air conditioning and the second-run theater 3 blocks away did.

[tomjen3]

2.5 hours of entertainment + forced ads, plus no control over the play experience, plus have to be at place at time, plus very expensive snacks.

Vs

A month of all you can enjoy streaming, with cheap snacks and full control?

It starts to feel like a really crappy deal, unless the movie is spectacular.

[em-bee]

the difference between movies and other activities is that i can watch movies at home while escape rooms, paintball or any live performance can not. so paying $30 for paintball or an opera may be reasonable because there is no alternative, but watching a movie has to compete with the option of watching at home where i can create a cinema environment with a small projector and a large white wall too.