# Movie Theater Popcorn **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 17, 2013, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-theater-popcorn/653195 "2013-03-17T21:02:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-theater-popcorn/653195/21 "2013-03-18T04:33:17Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Ballpark, a studio gets 50 - 55% of the total take. So if film grosses 100 million dollars, the studios get back 50 to 55 million. That’s about right. Per Regal’s last 10K, In 2011 they took in $1,842MM in admissions and gave $953MM of that back as rental and advertising. So they kept about 49%. But, of course, they have to run the business with that 49%. With that $889MM plus the $131MM in other non-concession revenues (the commercials we all hate, I imagine) they had, rounding slightly, $1 billion. Their operating and administrative expenses were $940MM. $60MM left over. Then there’s $200MM in depreciation, $150MM in interest expenses, $18MM in taxes, and other odds and ends (such as $14MM spent on 3D). So ignoring concessions they didn’t make any money, and actually lost quite a bit of it. They had $708MM in concession revenue against $97MM in concession cost. And that is why concessions are so expensive. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-theater-popcorn/653195/22 "2013-03-18T06:14:12Z")
> [@DirkGntly](#): > > If anyone is interested, you can re-create that movie popcorn flavor by using coconut-oil to cook it. Clear or yellow-dyed will work, but if you use the yellow-dyed, it will come out looking like movie popcorn, too. > Added bonus: you can keep it for a week and re-heat it if you cook it in coconut oil and it will still be fresh! (another reason ball parks and movie houses use it) For at least a while there, some theater chains were switching over to a healthier oil or shortening, usually canola or corn. But coconut oil makes the best tasting popcorn, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-theater-popcorn/653195/23 "2013-03-18T06:20:54Z")
> [@Hottius\_Maximus](#): > > So how exactly did popcorn become the signature snack for movie theaters? As opposed to peanuts, potato chips, candy bars, the usual stuff? Some answers already on why it appeals to theaters, but nobody has mentioned what I think are the main factors for moviegoers: eating it lasts a long time, and it requires no special attention to eat. Few other snacks have _both_ those attributes to such a degree. It’s really a shame that multiplex popcorn is both expensive and awful. > [@DirkGntly](#): > > If anyone is interested, you can re-create that movie popcorn flavor by using coconut-oil to cook it. Clear or yellow-dyed will work, but if you use the yellow-dyed, it will come out looking like movie popcorn, too. > Added bonus: you can keep it for a week and re-heat it if you cook it in coconut oil and it will still be fresh! (another reason ball parks and movie houses use it) > [@DummyGladHands](#): > > My first job was "candy"girl at a movie theatre. They didn’t pop their corn, but rather put it in a warmer. We had mountains of bagged corn in the basement. The mice loved us. No thanks. Stale is stale is stale. I know of _one_ theater, roughly in my area, that pops their corn fresh immediately before every showing, offers real butter, and sells both corn and reasonably-sized drinks at reasonable prices. It’s a single-screen labor-of-love operation, and the guy doesn’t make a _lot_ of money, but because it’s a small building without most of the overhead costs mentioned above, it works. If you can find such a place, support it. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-theater-popcorn/653195/24 "2013-03-18T06:33:22Z")
Another advantage to popcorn is that the aroma and sound of it popping helps to sell it. ---
**Author:** ![Hottius\_Maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@Hottius\_Maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hottius_Maximus)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-theater-popcorn/653195/25 "2013-03-18T12:20:04Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Huh? Nope, no problem here and no need for the Pit. I asked who she was blabbing at because she seemed to be replying to someone yet no one said anything to which a reply would be appropriate. What’s the problem?? 😕 HI Ambivalid: The problem is you using the word “babbling” to describe Holly’s post. You simply could have said what you just wrote: “who are you replying to?” although it seemed to me that she was simply asking another question on a related thread; that happens quite frequently on the message boards, and I’ve done it myself. Perhaps you didn’t intend to come off as rude, but if you yourself were in a college lecture (not that this is) and you asked a question or made a remark, if the professor or another student had said to you “What are you babbling about” as opposed to “What exactly are you asking/saying” then I think the difference would make itself quite clear. Have a blessed day. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-theater-popcorn/653195/26 "2013-03-18T13:00:58Z")
> [@DirkGntly](#): > > If anyone is interested, you can re-create that movie popcorn flavor by using coconut-oil to cook it. Clear or yellow-dyed will work, but if you use the yellow-dyed, it will come out looking like movie popcorn, too. > Added bonus: you can keep it for a week and re-heat it if you cook it in coconut oil and it will still be fresh! (another reason ball parks and movie houses use it) Really? I’m trying this. Thanks for the tip! ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-theater-popcorn/653195/27 "2013-03-18T14:18:39Z")
One thing the [oscars.org](http://oscars.org) story sorta shot by was the influence of pushcart vendors. Quoting myself from [this old thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=178773): > [@Why is popcorn the snack of choice for movies?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-popcorn-the-snack-of-choice-for-movies/170160/7): > > Popcorn became the de facto standard movie snack because of street vendors. Popcorn was, back in Ye Olde Days, an easy snack to sell on the street, for a variety of reasons: it’s inexpensive, it’s hard to screw up, and (thanks to the fact that its volume increases dramatically when popped) you can sell gallons of the stuff without having the same storage problems you’d have with, say, hot dogs (not to mention the refrigeration problems you’d have in the late 1800s / early 1900s) or even pretzels. > > Anyway, popcorn vendors used to chase after crowds wherever they could be found, and movie theaters were excellent selling spots. At first, theater owners were pissed at the street vendors, because the popcorn people brought in created a big mess. Somewhere along the line, theater owners figured, “well, we can’t keep the popcorn out, so we might as well make the profits ourselves.” They started installing popcorn machines, and the rest is history. The trend never stopped because there wouldn’t be a good reason to ditch a working industrial-type popcorn popper, and as long as all the other theaters in town had popcorn poppers, newly-built theaters had to have them too. > > Besides, popcorn is darn tasty. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-theater-popcorn/653195/28 "2013-03-18T15:00:34Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Huh? Nope, no problem here and no need for the Pit. I asked who she was blabbing at because she seemed to be replying to someone yet no one said anything to which a reply would be appropriate. What’s the problem?? 😕 “Who ya blabbing at” is snarky; “Who are you responding to” is a request for clarification. Stay way from the snark, please, unless you’re in the Pit. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-theater-popcorn/653195/29 "2013-03-19T03:43:30Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > Another advantage to popcorn is that the aroma and sound of it popping helps to sell it. Most foods will sell better if you can waft an appetizing aroma around. Popcorn does have a very distinctive, very appetizing smell when it’s warm, and the warmth can come from the popping or from the popcorn being rewarmed under the lights. I worked in a convenience store that sold popcorn that was popped in store, and we also sold barbecued chicken and ribs. The owner had some rules about when we were supposed to start the chicken and ribs so that they’d be cooking during the evening rush, when a lot of workers got off day shift, hit the store to get their cigs and beer, and then the barbecue would smell so good that they’d buy it, instead of opening a can of tuna or ordering a pizza. Aroma is an incredible appetite trigger. I’m pretty sure that it is, in fact, THE biggest appetite trigger. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-theater-popcorn/653195/30 "2013-03-21T07:00:17Z")
The best thing about working in a theatre is catching popcorn right out of the popper and eating it. For quality assurance purposes. I swear. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-theater-popcorn/653195/31 "2013-03-21T07:22:22Z")
Another great way to get free popcorn is to wait until the end of the night and sometimes they have garbage bags of it that they’re just gonna have to throw out or let people take (it helps if you have a friend who works in the theater to get this hook-up) ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-theater-popcorn/653195/32 "2013-03-21T11:49:34Z")
“I show you movies in order to sell popcorn.” James Edwards ---
**Author:** ![jharvey963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/54ee81/32.png) [@jharvey963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jharvey963)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-theater-popcorn/653195/33 "2013-03-21T17:06:24Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > I know of _one_ theater, roughly in my area, that pops their corn fresh immediately before every showing, offers real butter, and sells both corn and reasonably-sized drinks at reasonable prices. It’s a single-screen labor-of-love operation, and the guy doesn’t make a _lot_ of money, but because it’s a small building without most of the overhead costs mentioned above, it works. > > If you can find such a place, support it. All of the Cinemark, Cinearts, and AMC theatres that I go to pop their popcorn fresh. On the other hand, their prices are very high for this. There used to be a small, discount theatre in my area with 3 or 4 screens I think, that made a TERRIBLE business decision. Their ticket prices were very low – around $2 for second and third run movies. Once you bought a ticket, you had to wait in a line for that movie OUTSIDE THE THEATRE BUILDING until just before the movie starting time. This didn’t really leave any time for snackbar purchases. And since snackbars are where theatres make most of their money, I just couldn’t understand why they did this. Within a year or two, this theatre was out of business. J. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-theater-popcorn/653195/34 "2013-03-22T14:11:56Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > Another great way to get free popcorn is to wait until the end of the night and sometimes they have garbage bags of it that they’re just gonna have to throw out or let people take (it helps if you have a friend who works in the theater to get this hook-up) Depends. I don’t know if they pop a whole batch fresh every day these days, but when I worked at a movie theater back in high school, we’d bag up the leftover popcorn at night, put it back in the machine in the morning, and pop a few fresh batches to mix in with it. Once the lights brought it up to temperature, it was fine. This would usually last a few days to a week, when we’d bag up and toss the old stuff and start fresh. Edit: I should mention that, although we saved the popcorn, the machine and kettle were thoroughly cleaned every night. I took a huge garbage bag full of popcorn home once. I ate off that bag for a month, and it never went stale. Kinda disturbing. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-theater-popcorn/653195/35 "2013-03-22T18:19:25Z")
The only way you can think weeks-old popcorn isn’t stale is if you’ve accustomed yourself to the staleness that sets in within a few hours as part of the normal flavor of popcorn. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Vorlon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@The\_Vorlon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Vorlon)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-theater-popcorn/653195/36 "2013-03-22T21:44:19Z")
How to tell the butter is real: the tub will be rotating. This is rare. Most buttery topping never got closer to a cow than when the truck drove by a farm. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-theater-popcorn/653195/37 "2013-03-23T00:50:04Z")
It always amazes me that popcorn became the snack of choice, instead of [deviled eggs.](http://www.tvspots.tv/video/6916/moviefonecom--DEVILED-EGGS) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-theater-popcorn/653195.md?page=1)