In my experience the main cause of higher ticket prices has been the theaters’ need to constantly upgrade everything.

I’m lucky that the closest multiplex to me still only charges as much as the theater near where I grew up did seven years ago. That’s probably because it hasn’t been upgraded in at least that much time. Granted, there are a bunch of other potential reasons.

This is the same understaffed theater where I saw Wonder Woman, where they leave the 3D filters on almost all of the projectors except the one for their biggest screen. Competition from other nearby theaters is probably another factor, and maybe they’re saving on the rent compared to other places.

But they don’t have a Dolby or a liemax or even a “large format” screen, and the theaters that charge more all have at least one of those things.

ETA:

I’ve noticed there’s an inverse relationship between ticket prices and access to free parking.