Movie ticket prices slip in second quarter

LOS ANGELES  – Here's a man-bites-dog tidbit: average movie ticket prices slipped during the second quarter.

The National Association of Theater Owners said Monday that Americans paid an average of $7.88 to go to the cinema in the second quarter, down from $7.95 in the first three months of the year.

The decline reflects the enormous first-quarter box office for "Avatar" and the premium ticket prices movie theater owners charge patrons for the privilege of viewing such extra-dimensional fare. Theaters typically charge upward of $3 more for tickets to 3D movies.

"Avatar" opened December 18 and rang up $457 million of its record $750 million in North America from January 1-March 30. Also pumping up the first-quarter average, "Alice in Wonderland" -- a $334 million domestic grosser -- unspooled March 5 and rang up $299 million by March 30, and "How to Train Your Dragon" registered $53 million of its $218 million by month's end after bowing March 26.

The second quarter featured just two 3D releases of similar import: "Toy Story 3" opened June 18 and raked in $251 million of its $380 million by June 30, while "Shrek Forever After" fetched $231 million of its $235 million since debuting May 21.

The average ticket price of $7.90 for the first half means the industry's $6.48 billion in year-to-date boxoffice works out to roughly 820 million movie-theater admissions. That compares with 834 million tickets sold during a comparable portion of last year, so though box office revenue is up more than 4% from a year ago, ticket sales are down almost 4% after accounting for price hikes.