Or, in other words, for a family of four who would have ordinarily gone to the movies every other weekend, the cost of 2 years worth of movie tickets before concessions.
In return:
* They have a massively improved home viewing experience, which is something they were doing already with television.
* They have a massive improvement in convenience (they don't have to leave the house to see it).
* They have a "good enough" (still "very good" overall) AV quality experience.
This is how displacement by substitutes works. It's hard to see it coming, because it's hard to know where to draw the line for "good enough". But we've probably crossed it for movies.
To be honest, I like the AV quality better on that setup I described. Too many theaters are poorly configured and are actually losing on the quality front - too loud, too cold, technical difficulties.
Then there's the indignity of being forced to watch lame commercials thinly disguised as a "First Look"
I agree with you. 3D movies are dark. Darker still are regular movies where the 3D lens was left on because the theatre owners all like to save a few bucks by not hiring a projectionist who knows how to swap out and calibrate the normal lenses. Often surround sound isn't even working and is just turned off with sound coming through the three speakers in the front, or sometimes only the center speaker is working. Often a speaker will be blown and be crackling. It's not uncommon to have 30 minutes of advertisements and previews at the beginning.
This is what I get for $12-$15 at an upscale cinema. When I complain I am told there are no refunds. I walked away from this. The simple fact is my theatre at home is vastly superior to even the best cinemas in the country right now, because those cinemas are all absolutely horrible experiences sold at rip off prices and incredibly inconvenient.
This industry is dead. It is completely unrepentant of its sins of horrible customer experience. They are not selling a quality product, nor are they selling at a reasonable price.
There are better options and many of us have taken them. Too bad. I also liked drive in theatres, but they are also obsolete and as long gone as movie theatres will be in a few years.
Don't forget "And it's useful for a lot of other things other than movies", which is what really tipped it over the edge for me. Video games, streamed TV, second computer monitor, family photo viewings, etc. We're getting pretty close to "optional monitor for your cell phone", too, in the slow-but-inevitable substitute-replacement of your laptop by your cellphone.
I'd say "I just talked myself into upgrading my home theater setup", but we never go to the movies. We just watch them when they become available to download from iTunes. It's great. We make better popcorn, too (secrets: paprika bloomed in the butter, microplaned parmesan cheese, Spice House cheese powders).
In return:
* They have a massively improved home viewing experience, which is something they were doing already with television.
* They have a massive improvement in convenience (they don't have to leave the house to see it).
* They have a "good enough" (still "very good" overall) AV quality experience.
This is how displacement by substitutes works. It's hard to see it coming, because it's hard to know where to draw the line for "good enough". But we've probably crossed it for movies.