That won't pencil out for everyone, though. If you convert "four times a year" to "one blockbuster a season" you are going to get gaps in which the theaters scr

That won't pencil out for everyone, though. If you convert "four times a year" to "one blockbuster a season" you are going to get gaps in which the theaters scramble to find other ways to use the space and keep the lights on - the "throwback" nights, video game nights, etc. The current value proposition of a theatrical release is primarily in the big screen and the big auditorium, and secondarily the access to content(which can be seen on screens of many sizes). This was basically also true when VCRs took hold, and it drove the wave of late-20th century blockbusters; it's only different now in that the value of the theater is more niche, and there are fewer barriers to wide distribution. IMHO the thing that could support theaters going forward is a common 21st century theme: customization and unbundling. Keep it a primarily passive audience experience(we've seen the "interactive movie" trope before), but introduce an element of performance and "VJing", taking the emphasis off making one prerecorded film and moving it towards remixable material inside a common framework. Given that so many big releases now are CGI-centric, the production pipelines are already in striking distance of doing this, and live effects can supplement it. It just needs the intersection of technical capability against a business model open to this structuring of IP and talent - which might put it out of reach of the current studios but create opportunities for new ones.