The National Association of Theater Owners reports that the average movie ticket price during the first four months of this year is +4% at $9.16 versus the same quarter a year ago at $8.84.

Versus the final quarter of 2017, Q1 2018’s average price is down two cents, but it’s running ahead of the 2017 average of $8.97. Typically when we see a surge in pricing it’s largely attributed to the volume of moviegoers and their appetite for shelling out premium pricing for event titles (i.e. Imax, premium large format). Remember we’ve had four-uber blockbusters since December: Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Black Panther and now Avengers: Infinity War.

NATO also mentions that the average ticket price 40 years ago was $2.34 and when adjusted for inflation equals $9.34. So, relatively speaking, the price of movie ticket hasn’t really impacted our pocket books.