$20 To See 3-D

5/20/10 - For the first time, a major Hollywood film will hit the symbolically important $20 threshold at the box office, as movie-theater owners test the public's ability to absorb ever higher ticket prices.

The AMC theater, in the Kips Bay neighborhood of Manhattan, will charge $20 for an adult ticket to IMAX showings of animated 3-D family film, "Shrek Forever After."

That $20 may prove to be a psychological barrier too steep for some moviegoers to overcome, but the industry appears ready to take the risk, especially after a string of 3-D blockbusters, from "Avatar" to "Alice in Wonderland." 3-D movies, which accounted for the vast majority of last year's 10% jump in domestic box office sales, also accounted for 11% of ticket sales in 2009, up form just 2% in 2008. That figure is likely to climb even higher for 2010.

Note from Jeffrey : As much as I do not like expensive movie tickets, theater owners need to stay in business. Real estate taxes, labor overhead, cost of acquiring movie rights and the cost for developing 3-D theaters is huge. Let me make a comparison...look at baseball tickets, football tickets, Broadway tickets, a day at Disneyland, a day on the ski slopes and the like. Movie goers have received bargains for years. If they do not like going out to the movies for the large screen experience, they can always wait to see it at home on a 3-D TV.