I'm guessing the whole deal with rising ticket prices has to do with greediness between Hollywood and the theatre companies.
I still remember the days tickets were $4-5 here, I have a stub sitting around somewhere with that. I think it was for the matrix.
But to provoke your thoughts, think about it from this edge.
The budget needed to create a movie these days costs way more than it did in the 90's, or even 80's. They are shelling out millions of bucks just to get the scene right, nice effects, or desired actors. The ability to create action effects are much more possible today than they were before.. at the expense of $$$.
Now how are they gonna make that money back? Hope they get more viewers while keeping the same ticket price? This will cause the lines to flood even more.. Did you remember waiting in line for Dark Knight or any of the other Star Wars movies?
This is probably one of the small reasons why.. Instead of having two people pay $5, it sounds more reasonable to have one pay $10 while increasing the seats available per viewing thus increasing profits. Market strategy.. I'm theorizing.
Even notice the ads/previews for the movies now? They're always interesting things and stuff compared to what they used to have before. Remember those dumb Q and A's about movie and actors that you'd have to endure the boredom through till the movie started?
Here's some budgets for major hit movies in chronological order:
Year - Name - Budget Spent/Gross Earned
2008 Quantum of Solace - $230million/$169million
2008 The Dark Knight - $185million/$533million
2007 Spiderman 3 - $285million/$336million
2006 Casino Royale - $102million/$167million
2005 Batman Begins - $150million/$205million
2004 Napolean Dynamite - $400k/$44million
1999 The Matrix - $65million/$171million
1999 Star Wars: Phantom Menace - $115million/$431million
1998 Saving Private Ryan - $65million/$216million
1995 Goldeneye $60million/$106million
1991 Terminator 2 - $100million/$204million
1980 Star Wars: Empire Strikes back - $23million/$290million
1977 Star Wars: A New Hope - $11 million/$460million
You can see more, here:
The Numbers - Movie Budgets
I still hate high prices, but I can understand why they are raising it.. I guess some things you just can't control.