Box-Office Records: Inflation Is a Player

The “sailing” 9% increase in box office over the holiday weekend (“‘Clones,’ ‘Spider-Man’ Lead Holiday Weekend to a Record,” by Richard Natale, May 28) was completely due to the rapidly increasing price of going to the movies.

Whereas only a year ago I was paying $7.50 and $8 (at the very most) to see a first-run film, I am now paying at least $9. So if you call the overall increase $1 per ticket, that’s a gigantic increase of well over 11%, which of course eclipses the amazing new record set at the box office this Memorial Day weekend.

Don’t get me wrong; I like seeing Hollywood healthy economically, but this big burst of newer and bigger profits reported by you and touted by the industry is fully and completely self-induced. No big deal, I say!

B. DIRK YARBOROUGH

Santa Ana

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Shortly after plunking down $10 for “Star Wars,” I read that the average national ticket price for this movie was just $5.50. If the “average” is $5.50, there must be places charging a lot less than $5.50, to balance out the $9-$14 prices that now predominate the big cities.

Why do we pay so much to watch movies here? McDonald’s doesn’t charge more for Big Macs in cities than they do in small towns; what’s up with the movie theaters?

GARY DAVIS

Culver City