In SoCal, $7.00 for students/matinee/seniors, and $9.00 for adults, at AMC.
With other chains, give or take $0.50.
I knew there had to be some really cheap theaters… there was an article last year about the average price in the US for first-run general admission tickets being $6. It’s been years since they were up my way, so they must be much less than $6 in many places to account for those much higher.
1800 yen, which is about US$17, although there’s a local theater that shows double-features for $12.
Well, I just paid $7.50 for a night-time showing of Return of the King (here in Springfield, IL).
Doesn’t it seem a little weird that I’d pay the same amount, no matter how long, short, ambitious, lame, or crappy a movie I was going to see?
Orange Park, FL - $6 before 6 PM, I think it’s $8 after, but I go so rarely, I can’t be positive.
I just went to see the new Spider-Man yesterday at the local AMC theater in IMAX.
- Ticket: $23
- "Convenience Fee: $2
- Regular Popcorn: $10
- Large Soda: $8.50
- Total Cost: $43.50
Normally I wouldn’t bother with popcorn and a drink, I didn’t finish either, but as I had a $50 gift card I went ahead and splurged. This is the first time I’ve gone to see a movie since 2023 where I paid matinee prices and made no concessions purchases.
Just for fun, let’s compare it to the price of going to the movies in 1994 and what that looks like when calculating for inflation. Sadly, because of the Trump administration, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics does not have inflation information available after 2025.
- Ticket: $6 or $13.50 in 2025
- Convenience Fee: No such animal.
- Regular Popcorn: $3.50 or $7.88 in 2025
- Large Soda: $3 or $6.75 in 2025
- Total Cost: $12.50 or $28.30 in 2025
To be fair, the IMAX tickets are a little more than regular theater prices and I could have gone to see Spider-Man at another theater for $17.50 instead.
Despite having the time and being able to afford it, I just don’t want to go to the movies and I’ll admit price is part of it. I feel like I’ve turned into my dad. The price of a ticket is basically negligible but I still think its too much.
Meanwhile I pay $29.99 per month for A-List and can see four films per week at no additional cost. Which is less than the price of one IMAX ticket in my location.
I also went to see Spiderman this week at the local theater in my town. My ticket as a senior was $8.00 for an evening showing. The senior tickets and children’s tickets are always $8.00. Regular tickets are $10.25 for evening shows and $8.25 for matinees.
I checked on ticket prices for The Odyssey. Seeing it in an IMAX theater in Rochester would cost me $25.00 for a ticket.
I took my grand niece to a movie last month. The theater shows 11:00 am showings of slightly older releases. We went to see Goat. The tickets were only $1.00 each.
I went to see my namesake.
(regular, not Imax or Real3D any of the other fancy options) Matinee - $14.92 + 2.13 convenience fee (how is this convenient?) or $17.05 / ticket. The more expensive option was almost $12 more for two tickets.
Cape Town, South Africa:
Around $7-10 US for regular-priced movies, depending, as much as $15 for IMAX - but no-one, absolutely no-one, pays regular price for movie tickets, because all the various bank, medical and other store loyalty programmes come with half-price tickets. Like, I have at least 4 different ways to get half-price tickets. My wife likely has a different 3 or 4.
Just looked up the prices at our local AMC theater. The Convenience Fee is included in all ticket prices.
Bargain Tuesday - $9 all shows
Regular evenings - $13.50 for adults, $11.00 for seniors and military
Matinees - $11.00
I have no idea what concessions cost, but I can easily endure 2 hours without snacking, so it wouldn’t matter to me anyway.
I kinda hate that you have to select your seat when you buy your ticket. Who knows who you might get stuck next to? But I go to movies so rarely - not even once a year, so it’s really no biggie.
I prefer to select my seat in advance. That way I can get one I like.
In Chicagoland, premium formats such as IMAX and Dolby usually cost between $20 and $30. You can get tickets for as low as $18 for lesser formats, matinees, etc.