Movie Ticket Prices Reach All-Time High in Q2 of 2012

The average price to see a movie in the U.S. rose slightly in the first half of 2012 to an all-time high. But the increase was not as steep as in most of the past 17 years, in part because of a slowdown in the number of premium-priced 3D tickets.

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According to the National Association of Theatre Owners, the average ticket price rose to $8.02 from $7.93 in 2011, a 1.1 percent increase.

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NATO also reported Friday that the average ticket price for the first quarter of 2012 was $7.92, down a fraction from the 2011 average, but rose to an all-time high of $8.12 for the second quarter when many of the big summer movie releases were included in the calculation.

The rise from $7.92 in Q1 to $8.12 in Q2 is an increase of 2.5 percent.

Ticket prices have been rising steadily since about 1995. when the average price was $4.35. In 2010, the average movie ticket cost $7.89. However, the average price actually fell at the end of last year and has slowed from earlier in the decade when the era of tentpole movies, and especially premium priced 3D, drove a rapid rise in prices.