Top 10 most expensive movie tickets

Posted By on 30/07/2012

Excited to see The Dark Knight Rises? Are you so excited that you’d pay $21.50 to see it—and not even in IMAX? If not, you might want to wait until after you finish your Japanese vacation.

In Tokyo, two tickets to that or any other movie will cost you the equivalent of $43, making Tokyo’s movie tickets the most expensive in the world. And though a number of other cities also have very expensive tickets, the Japanese capital’s are head and shoulders above the rest.

The full list of the top 10 most expensive movie tickets is full of Swiss and Australian cities:

  1. Tokyo, Japan: $43 for two tickets
  2. Zurich, Switzerland: $37
  3. Geneva, Switzerland: $37
  4. Perth, Australia: $35
  5. Sydney, Australia: $35
  6. Adelaide, Australia: $35
  7. Melbourne, Australia: $35
  8. Oslo, Norway: $33
  9. London, United Kingdom: $31
  10. Brisbane, Australia: $31

As the list shows, five of the ten top cities are in Australia, and four more are in Europe. Watching movies in Hollywood’s home country is a bargain compared to doing the same in Europe or Australia: In 18 American cities, you can buy two tickets for between $18 and $22.

Indeed, there is very little difference in the price of movie tickets between cities within the same countries. For example, tickets in any of Canada’s three main cities (Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver) cost between $23 and $26 for two people. In New Zealand’s two main cities (Wellington and Auckland) the price difference is $1, from $26 to $27. Madrid and Barcelona’s prices are nearly identical ($19 and $18.85, respectively), as are Athens’ and Thessaloniki’s (both $21).

So if you’re a movie buff living in Tokyo or anywhere in Switzerland or Australia, you might want to invest in a high-definition TV and look into renting movies. It’ll probably be cheaper than going to the theater often—especially since your $43 won’t even get you popcorn.