Very good article around the finances behind movie theaters:

Popcorn reportedly makes 90 cents on the dollar, which means that the "large" popcorn they charge US$4 for cost them, at most, 40 cents. Soda products are the Original Ripoff™, but everyone has already been regaled with stories about how a $3 dollar Coca Cola costs 10 cents, or some such (the actual numbers are secret because companies like Coke negotiate private deals). Wash, rinse, and repeat for everything else they sell that you can stuff in your mouth. Bottom line: they make a killing off of concessions.

And some advertisers are paying more than $50,000 per screen annually, especially to theaters willing to pump up the volume to near ear-shattering level so that seated customers will pay attention. Since there are virtually no costs involved in showing ads, the proceeds go directly to the theater chains' bottom lines. But to fit paid advertising into the gap between showings, multiplexes have to cut down on the length of the studios' coming attractions (which are free advertising), a decision that hardly pleases studios. (Often, getting the coming attractions shown involves the studios "leveraging our goodwill," as one studio executive explained. The studios will threaten to hold back a popcorn movie, such as the new Harry Potter or Star Wars sequels, unless the chain agrees to play a full reel of trailers.)

Tags: Movie Theater Profits, Concessions