AND HOW ! I feel really sorry for the guy with a wife and 3 kids.That's like half a car payment,now.

I certainly think the price of movie tickets ($9 in my area) is playing a large role in why movies are seeing the same kinds of success that they used to. Let's face it, for what it costs for me and my girlfriend to go see a movie, I can buy the DVD when it comes out, and actually save money. But I go to the movies anyway, because a lot of movies are just better on the big screen.

For some movies, yeah, for others, no, but you can't pay for a movie based on how much you liked it. I've seen quite a few movies which were a waste of $8.50 (Well, $17, if you count my husband's ticket). On the other hand, there are a few movies that were well worth the ticket price, and I've liked it enough to watch it again in the theater for full price. Unfortunately, you can't always tell what movies are going to be duds or not. UPDATE: . . . okay, now the prices at the local theater jacked up to $9.00 (not the weekend price). Ouch. I think it's been raised by almost two bucks since the time I started on RIA! And, yeah, I've been here a while, but not THAT long! At least, when I move, I'll be living in a college town, and when we went to see a movie down there, the ticket guy automatically gave us the student discount without asking us for ID or anything. My husband shoved me along before I could correct the guy.

Nah. My schooling through the GI Bill has the pleasent side effect of student discounts.

Where I live, one adult ticket costs typically 10 dollars but I like the theatre and it gives me something to complain about to whoever I'm with until we start watching the film (lol). Fortunately I seldom go to the movies with more than three or four people and unless I'm with my wife, everyone pays their own way. Prices at some junky theatres however can often be costly too so I can see the difficulty for families (particularly large ones) to just get in the door.

Dollar theatres are great! :)