Cinemas don't live off tickets

When you buy a cinema ticket, a large share travels straight to the film's distributor — especially during opening weeks, when the crowds are biggest. What's left for the cinema barely covers screens, staff and rent.

So what does a cinema live on? The counter. Popcorn corn costs pennies and sells at restaurant prices: it's one of the highest margins in retail. Soft drinks and sweets follow the same logic.

Stanford economists studied the phenomenon and reached a curious conclusion: expensive popcorn keeps tickets cheaper. Whoever is willing to spend more pays their extra share at the counter, and the ticket price stays within everyone else's reach.

So popcorn isn't the side dish to the film. In accounting terms, it practically is the film.