Quentin Tarantino Said Movie Tickets Are Too High In 2016 – And It’s Gotten Worse

Quentin Tarantino's comments about movie ticket prices from a few years ago have resurfaced and are trending on both Twitter and Instagram. In an interview from nearly a decade ago, the Hateful Eight director says movie tickets have gotten too high -- and he's been maintaining this stance since the '80s.

Tarantino has often criticized the film industry lately, including companies producing films for streaming platforms and the industry's reliance on superhero films.

At a director's roundtable for The Hollywood Reporter in 2016, Tarantino stated: "Movie ticket prices: they were $5 forever in America. And then, all of a sudden, they start moving up." After listing the gradual increase in price, the New York Times reports that the average movie theater ticket price in the United States is $11.75 in 2022. The publication adds that multiplex chains make most of their money from their concessions, so it is in their economic interest to keep ticket prices low.

Tarantino adds in the video, “This is a working man’s art form. It’s not opera, it’s not theater, it’s not going to a big concert. The idea was anybody could go and see a movie." The award-winning director points out that is why movies "flourished" in the '30s, and "it's not anymore. We have priced them out until now it’s a deal."

However, people were quick to either point out that Tarantino doesn't know what he is talking about, or agree with his statement. One person on X (formerly Twitter) commented on the variety of ticket prices. "He needs to do more research. $5 Tuesday #atAMC, Discounted matinees, $AMC Alist, Screenunseen for $5," adding, "This headline is missing context. Comparatively speaking movies is the most affordable entertainment compared to concerts/sporting events etc. Wife & I less than $20 date night." Another argued, "Yes but films cost more to produce nowadays." While a third criticized the state of movie quality and wrote, "Maybe Hollywood should stop making crap then?" One person snarkily commented, "Can someone tell this old guy a smoothie is $15?"

Though there are discounted days and matinees at major theater chains like AMC and cheaper options at local theaters and in more remote parts of the county, many people also pointed out not everyone has access to these lower ticket prices. One person said, "Majority of the public goes Friday, Saturday or Sunday so a $5 ticket at start of the work week doesn’t help anyone." Another user wrote, "I can’t believe people in the comments caping for high ticket prices. Bootlicking much?" A third stated, "People talking about Tuesday pricing or matinees or whatever don't understand that lots of people don't have the free time or flexibility to do that for a ticket discount." Complaining about the high cost to take their family, another person said, "It cost about $100 to go to the movies these days. 4 tickets cost close to $50 and then the concessions are close to $50 for drinks and popcorn. Very rarely do we go anymore."

Since Tarantino's comments about high movie ticket prices in 2016, when prices were $8.65 on average in the US, the prices have increased every year.

Quentin Tarantino has made some of our favorite films. His directorial film debut was in 1992 with Reservoir Dogs starring Harvey Keitel, Michael Madsen, Steve Buscemi, Tim Roth, Chris Penn and the director himself. His second film, Pulp Fiction (1994), became a major success that many people regard as his best work. From then on, female feet obsessed director, came out with Jackie Brown in 1997, Kill Bill Vol. 1 in 2003, Kill Bill Vol. 2 a year later, Death Proof in 2007, Inglourious Basterds in 2009, Django Unchained in 2012, The Hateful Eight in 2015 and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in 2019.

Tarantino's work isn't for the faint of heart, with his graphic depictions of violence, frequent inclusion of racial slurs and the alleged negligence of safety in his handling of stunt scenes. Over the course of his professional career, now spanning 30 years, Tarantino's films have garnered a cult following with his success of becoming a household name.

Take a look below at our ranking of Quentin Tarantino's movies:

After watching this in theaters, I thought this very long film (2 hours and 40 minutes) was pretty good! Though it didn't make it to the top of our Tarantino's best films list, it's pretty captivating. Actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) gained fame and fortune by starring in a 1950s television Western, but is now struggling to find meaningful work in a Hollywood that he doesn't recognize anymore. He spends most of his time drinking with Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), his easygoing best friend and longtime stunt double. Rick also happens to live next door to Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) -- the filmmaker and budding actress whose futures will forever be altered by members of the Manson Family.

Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell) is a professional body double who likes to take unsuspecting women for deadly drives in his free time. He has doctored his car for maximum impact; when Mike purposely causes wrecks, the bodies pile up while he walks away with barely a scratch. The insane Mike may be in over his head, though, when he targets a tough group of female friends, including real-life stuntwoman Zoe Bell (who served as Uma Thurman's double in Kill Bill), who plays herself.The film was originally released as a double feature with obert Rodriguez's Planet Terror under the name Grindhouse.

The Bride (Uma Thurman) picks up where she left off in volume one with her quest to finish the hit list she has composed of all of the people who have wronged her, including her ex-boyfriend Bill (the late David Carradine), who tried to have her killed four years ago during her wedding to another man. Leaving several dead in her wake, she eventually tracks down Bill in Mexico. Using skills she has learned during her assassin career, she attempts to finish what she set out to do in the first place.

We can't get over how ridiculous Samuel L. Jackson's Ordell looks with his red hair and braided string of a goatee in this film. Pam Grier's Jackie Brown is caught up transporting Ordell's money back and forth from Cabo San Lucas back to Los Angeles. Robert De Niro plays Ordell's freshly-released-from-prison friend Louis. Unfortunately, he has to spend his time with one of Ordell's girlfriends, the chaotic Melanie, who will always do what Melanie does. Bail bondsmen Max Cherry (the late Robert Forster) gets hit with cupid's bow the moment he meets Brown out of jail and decides to help her out in her ploy to deceive the ATF (Michael Keaton) and Ordell. We love a happy ending where a woman gets one over on everyone.

Mr. Orange, Mr. Blue, Mr. White, Mr. Brown, Mr. Pink and Mr. Blonde all have a heist to do. But what happens when one of them is a rat and tips off the cops? Well, when no one can trust each other, or put their trust in the wrong person, someone's gonna get shot. And someone's gonna lose an ear.

Quentin wasn't lying when he thought up of the title for this film. Kurt Russell delivers an amazing performance as "The Hangman." He trusts nobody at first (rightfully), but when faced with dodgy characters at Minnie's Haberdashery, he warms up a little in order to take the firecracker murderer that is Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh). No one messes with Samuel L. Jackson's Major Marquis Warren, or you're bound to get shot -- especially if you're a General of the Confederates. Though the movie ends in a blood bath, we get a nice little dance by Daisy that warms all of our hearts.

Uma Thurman plays a former assassin, known simply as The Bride, who wakes up from a coma four years after her jealous ex-lover Bill (David Carradine) attempts to murder her on her wedding day. Fueled by an insatiable thirst for revenge, she vows to get even with every person who contributed to the loss of her unborn child, the murder of her entire wedding party, and fthe our years of her life that she spent in a coma.

We can't count how many times we've watched Pulp Fiction, as we know the words to our favorite scenes by now. The film follows multiple storylines starting with the iconic hitmen duo Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson). Their boss Marsellus Wallace's (Ving Rhames) wife, Mia (Uma Thurman) causes them a whole lot of trouble on her night out with Vega. Their problems lead to a run-in with struggling boxer Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) and a nervous couple of armed robbers, "Pumpkin" (Tim Roth) and "Honey Bunny" (Amanda Plummer).

This is another Tarantino film we've watched many a time. Set in Nazi France, the cunning and merciless Hans Landa (played by the brilliant Christoph Waltz) has made it his personal mission to find Shosanna after she is the only member of her family to get away from his murder spree. Years later, she becomes a theater owner in Paris. Allied officer Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) assembles a team of Jewish soldiers to kill and scalp Nazis. He and his men join forces with Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger), a German actress and undercover agent, to bring down the leaders of the Third Reich.

The story of Django (Jamie Foxx) being freed by Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz), a German dentist-turned-bounty hunter begins with their quest to kill the Brittle brothers. As Django and Schultz rack up more bounties together, there's only one thing on Django's mind: rescuing his love, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), from Monsieur Candie's (Leonardo DiCaprio) Candyland plantation. Django and Schultz devise a master plan, only to be foiled by Samuel L. Jackson's Stephen, who knows what they're really there for. Plus, he hates that Django is a freedman. What's to follow is a shootout that leaves Django alone to save his woman and ride out into the sunset.