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Originally Posted by Samdari
From what I have been told, it actually does. For new releases, the theater keeps very little to nothing from the ticket sales. All their money comes from concessions.
What you don't hear are promotion budgets. The 'cost to make' numbers thrown around usually include salaries, sets, costumes, music etc., but not promotion. Its got to cost quite a bit to keep us completely immersed in 'Sorority Row' ads.
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Bingo. One of the reason concession prices are higher is because that's how the movie theaters make their money during the theater runs. Movie splits vary between exhibitor and the movie studios, but typically run on a split. Summer blockbusters typically have a 4-week guaranteed run at theaters, depending on the number of prints. During that 4-week, the split could be anywhere between 80/20 studio/exhibitor to as bad as 99/1. I've seen that one. So, most theaters rely on a percap, Concession $ vs patron. On a good weekend night, you hope for as close to $4 as possible. On a weeknight during the fall, sometimes you're lucky to see $2.50. Sometimes studios get absurd when it comes to concession dollars too and that's when you might see a bigger chain not carry a movie during its initial box office runs, ie Road to Perdition, which a major movie chain decided not to carry because of the Movie Studio demanding a percentage of the concession sales during the first 2 weekends.