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Exactly. And that's why I don't think it's possible to price movies the same way we price food. Cuisine is easy. The best ingredients like truffles and vintage wine are rare and skilled chefs are a sought after commodity. When these are put into a business model like a restaurant, everything is simplified. The chef has to be paid, the inventory has to be stocked, the resturanteur has overhead and other staff to pay, and he also would like a little profit. He can set a price accordingly. People can accept or reject the product he offers and he either fails or succeeds as a result.

Movies, however, are another monster. Even indy projects cost a lot these days (unless you're Primer) and there are so many people involved from cast to crew, and the pre-production, production, post-production stages, you never know how a movie will look once it hits the screen. Really great concepts, like Mirrormask, can turn into very dull movies. Just because Stanley Kubrick is directing, doesn't mean you're guaranteed a 2001: A Space Odyssey or Full Metal Jacket. Sometimes, even when you cast A-listers you end up with Eyes Wide Shut.

But most of all, the director isn't responsible for his movie getting finished on time or budget, the producer and/or studio is. The studio isn't responsible for getting the movie out to the public, the distributor is. The distributor isn't responsible for getting the movie on screen, the theater is. Then you have advertisers, outside investors, distributor/theater contracts, focus groups, MPAA, unions at every level, and a whole host of other things I don't know anything about because I'm not in the business. It's all very very complicated. On top of this, movies are playing to a very very large audience. A high end restaurant can get by with a small percentage of the population that appreciates fine food--even the "special occasion only" crowd. Movies don't have that luxury.

So, how should movies get priced? Should summer blockbusters cost more? Should Oscar movies/Indie movies cost more? A theater owner would want Oscar and independent movies cost less to draw an audience and blockbusters cost more because they draw a larger audience. However, the fast food/haute cuisine theory would argue the opposite should be true.