I think they need to rethink the concept of the movie theater. The value of "going to see a movie" in this digital age is that you are going out to see a show. So get rid of the "lines of chairs facing the screen" thing, change the layout so that groups are further apart, with more comfort.
Serve booze - they do it at baseball games! That would both offset the cost of the new concept and make the experience more enjoyable for adult audiences.
Nobody really needs movie theatres anymore. They have to make it something out of the ordinary that people will be excited about.