Regal sees 4-6 percent price hikes

Amy Miles, CEO of Regal Entertainment Group, speaks at the Reuters Global Media Summit in New York, December 1, 2009.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Regal Entertainment Group's (RGC.N) movie ticket prices will rise at least 4 to 6 percent in 2010, twice the typical yearly hike, due in part to the advent of 3-D films such as "Avatar," Chief Executive Amy Miles said on Tuesday.

Miles, who runs the world's largest theater operator, said "Avatar" could make more than $250 million in the U.S. and Canada, drawing new audiences to 3-D films and helping to ring in a strong fourth quarter for the movie industry.

Directed by James Cameron, "Avatar" uses breakthrough 3-D technology and tells the story of a U.S. Marine soldier who visits an extraterrestrial globe with exotic inhabitants. Cameron's 1997 "Titanic" is the highest-grossing movie of all time, with $1.7 billion sales worldwide.

"Avatar" will appeal to older viewers, many of whom have not seen recent 3-D films that have animated movies appealing to children, such as this year's "Monsters vs. Aliens" and "Up," said Miles at the Reuters Global Media Summit in New York.

"I think what that would do is introduce a section of the audience that has not seen 3-D," Miles said of "Avatar."

The film's release, by News Corp's (NWSA.O) Twentieth Century Fox on December 18, comes as Regal is making a big push into digital technology, converting a projected 1,500 of its more than 6,700 screens to 3-D technology.

But while Miles said the movie is likely to be a hit, and draw in new audiences, she played down the potential importance of "Avatar" to the broader push for 3-D in theaters.

"I'm a little less of the opinion that 'Avatar' is a game-changer," Miles said. "I think from a film technology perspective, there's a lot of enhancements that are going to benefit the industry, but 3-D is going to be successful whether 'Avatar' is successful or not," Miles said.

She said the ticket price hikes in 2010, at a minimum, will be next to double the 2 to 3 percent base price increase that Regal has historically passed along to moviegoers.

"What you'll see is incremental growth next year because a higher percentage of the tickets will be premium based on more 3-D film product and a full IMAX slate," she said.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis and Sue Zeidler; Editing Bernard Orr)