Theaters May Cut Movie Prices to Lure Customers Back

Year after year, more and more Americans are choosing not to go to the movies. Blame Netflix. Blame video games. Or maybe, blame ticket prices.

To counter that, theater owners are considering cutting ticket prices one day a week, for what seems to be the first time in the United States. A trade group representing theater owners is in early talks with theater chains and movie studios to implement a program that would allow for discount ticket prices on one yet-to-be-determined weekday, the Wall Street Journal reports. Details on the proposal, including when it would be implemented and how much tickets would be discounted, remain unclear.

On Tuesday, a report from the Motion Picture Association of America said that domestic movie box-office sales rose to $10.9 billion last year, from $10.8 billion in 2012, but that the increase was due to higher ticket prices, not increased attendance. In fact, the number of tickets sold slipped 1.5% to 1.34 billion from 1.36 billion in the past year. The average ticket price nationwide was $8.13 last year, up from $7.96 in 2012 (the average includes lower-priced matinee tickets).