Movie Tickets Down, Revenues Up

Although the concert industry is seeing a consumer rebellion because of sticker shock, the movie industry isn’t paying attention.

According to figures obtained by The Wrap, movie distributors grossed more than $6.7 billion in the U.S. through Aug. 1, topping last year’s numbers by 4.7 percent, even though ticket sales are slightly down by 1 percent. Some in the movie business are “wringing their hands” over the long-term effects of “skyrocketing” ticket prices, The Wrap noted, but obviously skyrocketing ticket prices are working out for the short term.

International grosses were comparable, with Disney more than doubling last year’s $744 million haul, Fox earning more than $2.1 billion through Aug.1 and Paramount pulling in nearly $1.17 billion, the entertainment website reported.

But those figures can’t just be attributed to the slew of blockbusters at the box office including “Avatar,” “Toy Story 3,” and “Alice In Wonderland.”

Ticket sales reportedly dropped 1 percent to 852.5 million units this year, while individual ticket prices increased from $7.46 to $7.88 on average.