Movie Ticket Prices Rose Five-Percent In 2010

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:

Swipe to scroll horizontally
YearRow 0 - Cell 1 Price
2010Row 1 - Cell 1 $7.89
2009Row 2 - Cell 1 $7.50
2008Row 3 - Cell 1 7.18
2007Row 4 - Cell 1 6.88
2006Row 5 - Cell 1 6.55
2005Row 6 - Cell 1 6.41
2004Row 7 - Cell 1 6.21
2003Row 8 - Cell 1 6.03
2002Row 9 - Cell 1 5.80
2001Row 10 - Cell 1 5.65
2000Row 11 - Cell 1 5.39
1999Row 12 - Cell 1 5.06
1998Row 13 - Cell 1 4.69
1997Row 14 - Cell 1 4.59
1996Row 15 - Cell 1 4.42
1995Row 16 - Cell 1 4.35
1994Row 17 - Cell 1 4.08
1993Row 18 - Cell 1 4.14
1992Row 19 - Cell 1 4.15
1991Row 20 - Cell 1 4.21
1990Row 21 - Cell 1 4.22
1989*Row 22 - Cell 1 3.99
1988Row 23 - Cell 1 4.11
1987Row 24 - Cell 1 3.91
1986Row 25 - Cell 1 3.71
1985Row 26 - Cell 1 3.55
1984Row 27 - Cell 1 3.36
1983Row 28 - Cell 1 3.15
1982Row 29 - Cell 1 2.94
1981Row 30 - Cell 1 2.78
1980Row 31 - Cell 1 2.69
1979Row 32 - Cell 1 2.47
1978Row 33 - Cell 1 2.34
1977Row 34 - Cell 1 2.23
1976Row 35 - Cell 1 2.13
1975Row 36 - Cell 1 2.03
1974Row 37 - Cell 1 1.89
1971Row 38 - Cell 1 1.65
1967Row 39 - Cell 1 1.22
1963Row 40 - Cell 1 .86
1958Row 41 - Cell 1 .68
1954Row 42 - Cell 1 .49
1948Row 43 - Cell 1 .36
Josh Tyler