Imagine this scenario: Theater chain 'X' sees reducing ticket sales on, say, 'King Kong'. Its a hard sell because of many factors (length, season released, originality, etc) so they try a new advertising gambit. All day Saturday (or whatever) you can come to special showings of 'Kong'- for $12 admission you get a movie ticket, medium popcorn and medium drink... AND we promise to show NO COMMERCIALS and START THE FILM ON TIME.
Would this help? I think so. The main reasons that I (like increasing numbers of film fans) don't go to the theater as much are that its just more comfortable, cheaper, pleasant (no cell phones, annoying people sitting next to you, sticky floor), etc to stay home and watch films. And if you miss the opening weekend of a film at your local Gagoogleplex then they'll probably shuffle it to a smaller screen that seems to be the same or lower quality than many of us with decent home theater setups can get at home.
And (as usual
) I agree with JediSage- I could give a rat's ass about the budget as long as I'm entertained. This is mainly a function of character and story IMO. Or even just being the best at whatever you try to do- even a stupid big budget blow-em-up can be great fun if it tries to be the best it can be and doesn't take itself too seriously.