Bringing food into a movie theater

[DisneyJamieCA]

It depends on the particular studio and even movie. The big blockbusters (like most MCU movies) will have something like a 10% cut to the movie theater for the first week but then go to maybe 50% or more to theater if it's been around for a while. But then again the studios come up with specific terms for bigger blockbusters.

I went to a few movie theaters that showed later first run movies, where they said that it allowed them to keep prices down because the cost to the theater was less. But at that point I'm not sure if there might be some rental cost. This place did things a bit differently, including baby nights (turn down the sound, keep the lights up higher, and no complaining about crying babies) as well as half price nights. They also had a real kitchen. If we got food, it was typically their nachos, which were similar to what one might find in a Tex-Mex place.

10% is essentially them not making money on ticket sales. And it’s the first month or two, not the first week. By the time they make any money on it, people aren’t coming to see it. Concessions (which now include alcohol and food if they serve it) are where they make their money. My husband used to work for Cinemark corporate.

 

[elgerber]

A pumpkin pie!! hahaha
Was it at least around Thanksgiving? because somehow that makes it a little less crazy!

Hahaha I just had to check. The movie was released November 8 2013 so kinda??

 

[jaiminee krikit]

The theater in my hometown is very strict. They have a sign by the cash register that they reserve the right to search your bag, and they will. The theater is disgusting though so we only go there when absolutely necessary.
The one we usually go to is in a mall and they don't seem to care if you bring in outside food. We've heard people bring in cans of pop and we've brought in other treats and our own bottles of water. But nothing beats movie theater popcorn mmmmm

 

[bcla]

10% is essentially them not making money on ticket sales. And it’s the first month or two, not the first week. By the time they make any money on it, people aren’t coming to see it. Concessions (which now include alcohol and food if they serve it) are where they make their money. My husband used to work for Cinemark corporate.

I get that it's a calculation based on understanding that there will be people who bring in food, or a good proportion of customers who won't spend at concessions. Not much different than amusement parks figuring that they only need a subset of customers to spend money on overpriced amusement park food to stay profitable.

I saw some rerun in the 80s or the 70s show What's Happening. One scene was of the girl asking her mom for $2 to spend at a movie theater on candy and a soda. Her mom gives her 10 cents saying that she can buy candy at a store, and if she needed anything to drink there was water.

 

[SpiritedHaunts]

Once after Mom and Dad 'taught' us how 'we' deal with and how to behave in movie theaters we heard aluminum foil being pulled back. Mom still tells people about that time when she turned around and saw the foil was being pulled back off a 9x13 pan of brownies, with the mother cutting up pieces and handing them out.

 

[starry_solo]

We don’t have small independent theatres in our area.
We usually bring a soda and candy and buy popcorn.

but I believe the official policy is no outside food or drink.

 

[bcla]

First of all, I fully understand that most movie theaters have an official policy that outside food and most outside beverages are not allowed. However, I've never really had anyone tell me that something was specifically OK until I had something in my hand while waiting in line, and being told that they would allow it in the building, but I could only eat it before getting into the auditorium or putting it away.

Bag checks are one thing, but I don't know how they're supposed to deal with someone who might have gone shopping and has some food in a bag. Suppose I take public transportation to work and go to a downtown movie theater after work before going home. If I have something I'm munching on in line, is it that bad to take it in my bag, at least if it stays there while I watch the movie? Then again I don't remember any time where my bag was ever checked.

Then there's the "unofficial policy" angle, and that's the really fun one. I've dealt with a lot of unofficial policies, starting with when Disneyland had an official policy that outside food wasn't allowed, but most regulars understood the unofficial policy. The official policy said that there were lockers outside and that one could eat outside food at the picnic tables. For the unofficial policy, a pre-made sandwich would be fine, but a bag of sliced bread and sandwich fixings would attract attention from security. I've been there where a bag of candy dropped from my bag at the start of The Haunted Mansion and a CM tossed it back to me in the Doom Buggy before we were too far away. I spilled a can of Coke and a CM rushed right away to tell me that she'd clean it up. I've brought in a soft-sided cooler that security checked and saw was loaded with canned sodas. I've walked in with a McDonald's bag. So they saw all that but obviously were trained to not make a fuss over their "official" policy. I've also taken Amtrak where I've talked to conductors about their alcohol policy. One specifically said that she wouldn't enforce the outside alcohol policy as long as a passenger wasn't being a problem. That's sort of what I was trying to get at.

 

[Disneyland1084]

The theater in my hometown is very strict. They have a sign by the cash register that they reserve the right to search your bag, and they will.

The theatre in my town searches bags, but only on rare occasions. If I want to sneak in something good, I just put it in a tampon box, lol, but only during the hot and warm months. In the winter, I can fit a lot in the many pockets I have in my jacket.

 

[jdb in AZ]

The theater in my hometown is very strict. They have a sign by the cash register that they reserve the right to search your bag, and they will. The theater is disgusting though so we only go there when absolutely necessary.
The one we usually go to is in a mall and they don't seem to care if you bring in outside food. We've heard people bring in cans of pop and we've brought in other treats and our own bottles of water. But nothing beats movie theater popcorn mmmmm

They can "reserve" the right to search your bags, but legally they'd need a search warrant. It's less hassle to just take my business elsewhere.

 

[NotUrsula]

While I agree, the reason the prices are so high is that’s where they make their money. They don’t make it on ticket sales because almost all of that goes back to the studio.

I understand that, but there is a corollary question of how much money they make given their pricing structure.

There is a newish small independent theatre chain here where I live (they have a total of 10 screens in historic buildings) that has been in business 5 years, and one of the things that makes them different is that their concessions are priced at only about 15% above street price, even for beer. They even offer unlimited free refills on fountain drinks and popcorn if you pay a $2 refill fee over the price. The thing is, when you go to one of their theatres, the concession lines are always busy, and almost everyone in the theatres is actually munching on or drinking something purchased there. By contrast, when I visit a theatre owned by one of the major regional chains here, that have more conventional price strategies, the concession stands are not doing much business at all, and most of the folks in the theatre are sitting there empty-handed.

Fountain drinks and popcorn are dirt cheap; you really don't have to mark them way up to make a profit on them, and I'd posit that selling 500 units at a 15% markup is probably more profitable long-term than selling 15 units at a 500% markup when you are talking about something that costs about $1 to produce. People here truly love the small chain's policies, and fill those theatres at nearly every showing, whereas the big chains always have plenty of empty seats.

 

[bcla]

They can "reserve" the right to search your bags, but legally they'd need a search warrant. It's less hassle to just take my business elsewhere.

It’s a bit more complicated than that. The way they’ll usually couch that is that they can deny entry and refund the ticket price.

It’s not quite like a receipt check at a store. Those can’t be mandated in most states unless there’s a specific belief that someone has shoplifted. There’s a specific exception for membership stores where the agreement includes the receipt check. But absolutely a store could require a bag check in or even a search before entering.

 

[bcla]

Just as an aside, I haven’t encountered a sticky movie theater floor in over a decade. That used to be the default, along with a lumpy seat with broken springs creaking.

 

[AustinTink]

I usually bring in a bottle of water and candy but we always buy a large popcorn and a drink as well. I remember one movie when the lady in front of us peeled and ate oranges through the whole thing. She must have had a purse full of them!

 

[Jennasis]

We dont go to theaters anymore. Watch everything on streaming servies on our big screen at home. Last night was Black Widow. All the snacks we wanted.

 

[Kittyblue]

The 2 theatres in our area have large signs that say "absolutely no outside food or drinks" and they WILL check your bag, no matter how large or small. Even when I've gone in with a tiny crossbody cell phone bag, that there is no way you can fit anything but your phone and license in, I've had to open it and let them look inside.

A couple theaters here make you open your purse. What gets me is they never check anything else, so the family would just sneak in candy in a coat or pants pocket. One time my friend brought a blanket and hid some candy in it. They checked her purse but not the blanket LOL.