- Eric Schmidt on Government Scrutiny and Economic Recovery
- Schmidt on Social Media, Ads and Hulu
- Sun Valley on Social Media
- Eric Schmidt + Larry Page on Revolutionizing Computing
- WPP's Sir Martin Sorrell on the Ad Recession
- Twitter in the Sun Valley Spotlight
- Sun Valley Dealmaking Confab Kicks Off
- Making Money on Michael Jackson's Memorial
- Court Ruling Could Mean Trouble for TiVo
- Another Music Lawsuit, but with an Unexpected Target
- Eric Schmidt on Government Scrutiny and Economic Recovery
- Schmidt on Social Media, Ads and Hulu
- Sun Valley on Social Media
- Eric Schmidt + Larry Page on Revolutionizing Computing
- WPP's Sir Martin Sorrell on the Ad Recession
- Twitter in the Sun Valley Spotlight
- Sun Valley Dealmaking Confab Kicks Off
- Making Money on Michael Jackson's Memorial
- Court Ruling Could Mean Trouble for TiVo
- Another Music Lawsuit, but with an Unexpected Target
|
CNBC'S MOST SHARED
- Unemployed? Bored? Make Money Playing Beer Pong
- The Highest Grossing (Inflation Adjusted) Movies of All Time
- Social Networking's 'Naked' Truth
- Geek Squad V. Gizmodo
- Merrill's McCann Seen as UBS Wealth Frontrunner
- Warren Buffett's Top Three Investment Rules for the Average American
- Why You Should Watch Fund Flows
- WPP's Sir Martin Sorrell on the Ad Recession
- Four Things You Should Be Doing Now To Break Out
- Proprietary Trading May Cause October Crash: Investor
- Eric Schmidt on Government Scrutiny and Economic Recovery
- Market 360: The Week's Best & Worst
- Geek Squad V. Gizmodo
- Brandt: Google Chrome OS in the Post-PC Age
- Other People Are Weirder Than We Are
- Bank Failures: Is The Nightmare Over? (Video)
- California Here I Go? No.
- Roginsky: No More Mr. Nice Guy
- Commercial Conundrum
- Cheney Told CIA to Withhold Information: Report
- Why the Credit Pendulum Is Stuck at 'Stupid'
- Stimulus Will Kick in Later this Year: President Obama
- Lender CIT Group Hires Premier Bankruptcy Adviser
- Government Selling Bank Stakes for Too Cheap: Panel
- Buffett's Top 3 Investment Rules for Average Americans
- Market Insider: Earnings Loom in the Week Ahead
- Bulls Get Summertime Blues, But It's Hot Fun for Bears
- As Banks Fail, Strong Institutions Become More Visible
RSS FEED

![]() |
iStock |
I'm talking popcorn, the greasy, over-priced, often-stale junk theaters make a fortune on. I personally don't believe in paying such a premium for the stuff that doesn't even taste that good, but my husband is a movie theater popcorn addict.
Big news: according to new economic analysis movies would be a LOT more expensive without those overpriced tubs of popcorn. In fact, the high price of popcorn (and other snacks) helps keep ticket prices down, allowing more people to attend.
UC Santa Cruz economis Ricard Gil explains that if a movie theater owner aims to be profitable purely based on ticket prices, he or she will deter a lot of moviegoers and sell a lot fewer tickets. Spread the revenue model to include concessions and boom ticket prices go lower and you sell a lot more concessions.
This isn't rocket science, but maybe it'll make you feel better when you pay a small fortune for some popcorn and a soda--you're subsidizing your own ticket. Gil says if movie popcorn were free (it's so cheap to produce, they could give it away for next to nothing)) your ticket would cost at least 25 percent more.
Questions? Comments?






