Nina Metz: ‘Tár’ vs. ‘Avatar’ — are high ticket prices scaring audiences away from anything that isn’t a known quantity?

I rewatched 1982′s “An Officer and a Gentleman” recently. Still holds up! There’s more depth to the story than I remember, Richard Gere and Debra Winger at their best. Reading up on the film afterward, I was startled to see that it was the third highest grossing film of ‘82. I remember it being a hit. But Top 3? It shares that distinction with the other two big box office draws that year: “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” and “Tootsie.”

All are original stories. Not a blockbuster-style flick among them, unless you count “E.T.,” which doesn’t feature alien powers or massive action sequences, but centers on a young boy’s bond with a stubby little thing from outer space who just wanted to phone home.

We’re in a vastly different movie landscape 40 years later. The top three movies of 2022: “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” and ”Jurassic World Dominion.” It’s probably no coincidence they are all sequels.

There is a confluence of factors that led us here. Let’s talk about one: Steep ticket prices. Last month, a headline in the New York Times declared: “Highbrow Films Aimed at Winning Oscars Are Losing Audiences.”

People just aren’t going in sizable numbers to see movies like “Tár” and “Babylon” and “The Banshees of Inisherin” and “The Fabelmans” — films that offer an alternative to action-packed, CGI-filled spectacles.

Recency bias might have you believing that only the “biggest” movies can top the box office — the biggest franchise, with the biggest budget and biggest stars and biggest visual ambitions. That wasn’t always the case, and a look back at 1982 is a sharp reminder that other kinds of films were also popular audience draws for most cinema’s history.

When “An Officer and a Gentleman” came out, the average ticket price was around $3. Adjusted for inflation, that would be around $9.25 in today’s dollars. Anything under $10 sounds (mostly) reasonable to my ears.

But according to the National Association of Theater Owners, the average price is actually higher, at $11. And in Chicago, you’ll see prices at $15-plus. In Manhattan, it’s $22.50.

I don’t blame movie theaters. They are doing everything possible to stay in business at the moment.

But at that price point, I suspect the taste for risk plummets among audiences.

Movies used to be one of the cheapest ways to find entertainment outside your home. There will always be films audiences are unsure about. Were we more willing to be spontaneous and say “Why not? Let’s check it out” when prices were cheaper?

I wonder if audiences need more of a reassurance with tickets in the $15-$20 range: You want to know what you’re getting. When it comes down to “Tár” or “Avatar” — a battle of the tars! — the big-budget splashy movie probably seems like the surer bet.

When I mentioned this on Twitter, I heard similar sentiments. Here’s a sampling:

“I used to see matinees alone for whatever was playing, and even the cheaper showings these days are too much to take a risk on. That plus the pandemic and not wanting to be in a room full of unmasked people.”

“Twenty years ago, my friends and I would sometimes just go to the theater and see whatever was playing next. It was like movie roulette. But not at these prices.”

“I pass on many because it appears the viewing experience wouldn’t be all that different from what I can watch at home. Wouldn’t mind going more often for those if ticket prices were less.”

“I’m single and tend to go to movies alone during off peak hours, so I’m still willing to take a few risks. On other hand, a married bud with kids said just this past weekend that going to the movies is a $80+ outing with tickets and snacks every time, so they are going to far fewer movies.”

There are MoviePass-style theater subscriptions at most of the big chains that can discount things substantially to anywhere from $10-$20 a month — roughly the cost of a streaming subscription. Some chains limit how many movies you can see a week; others have no cap.

But does the idea of adding yet another subscription on your monthly bill feel like a mental barrier to entry? What if you don’t want to commit to going to the movies every month? Maybe you want to be able to decide these things on a whim.

Just personally, I miss the variety you used to see at the multiplex.

Consider the movies that would have been on the marquee in the summer of 1986: “Big Trouble in Little China” (cheesy action-adventure), “Heartburn” (droll Nora Ephron marriage woes), “Short Circuit” (cute robot), “Labyrinth” (David Bowie goblin king musical fantasy), “About Last Night” (a Chicago classic), “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” (another Chicago classic), “Aliens” (sci-fi action), “Running Scared” (buddy cop action), “Legal Eagles” (rom-com meets legal drama), “Ruthless People” (bad marriage comedy), “Back to School” (Rodney Dangerfield goes to college).

There were 26 movies in theaters in July of 1986. Wow. Only five were sequels.

Among the originals? “Top Gun,” which dominated at the box office.

A sign of things to come.

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