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If I'm not mistaken, there are actually more theaters now than in the 80s (ignoring single auditorium/art house theaters of both eras). Yet, there are at least twice as many screens because most modern theaters have 16 or more screens (the average new theater is actually 20) while those in 80s never had more than 8 or 10. If ticket prices were the same and "Back to the Future" sold out every single show in its first week, it still couldn't come close to "Matrix Reloaded" because that movie was on twice as many screens. So if you didn't get a "Back to the Future" ticket the first week, you had to wait until the second week. Hence "staying power." If you couldn't find at least one theater in your area that had a "Reloaded" or "Spider-Man" ticket available the first weekend, you must not have been looking very hard. ("Harry Potter," being 2.75 hours long with trailers, was another story. It could barely be shown 4 times a day at most theaters, so that severely cut into the amount of tickets they could sell for it.)
Interestingly, as I was waiting for "M&C" to start last night, I noticed that one of the late shows of "Revolution" at that 24-plex was sold out, some 3 hours before it was supposed to start. That was really surprising, being on a weeknight and the movie being so week and all. It was the ONLY show listed as being sold out for it, though.
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