As the window between movie release in theater and on DVD becomes smaller and with more and more people having home theaters, the blockbusters aren't bringing in nearly as much money as they used to, there's not as many of them and there's less incentive to go see a movie in the theater (or so I've read).
There's got to be a way to create more demand and exclusivity surrounding a movie release. What if a brand "owned" or sponsored a huge film- a Lord of the Rings or something like that with a huge demand--and created a movie "tour" similar to a music tour. The movie would only be shown in 1 city at a time and the "band" (a few of the actors/actresses) would travel to each city with the film. The movie could be shown in venues like the RBC Center (set up for a capacity of around 10,000) and ticket prices would be similar to concert ticket prices ($100+ each).
There would be a huge demand for these tickets, as it would be the only way to see the movie in a particular city (maybe until it is released to the public a few months later, or maybe the ONLY way to see it). The show would start with some dialogue between the actors/actresses. Then, the movie would be shown, along with some of the special features you might find on a DVD (but with the real life actors talking about it onstage).
There is definitely potential for $$ here. Say the movie tour hits 100 cities (1 show per city) and 10,000 people attend each show at $100 per ticket. That's reaching a million people total and selling $100 million in tickets. You could play with the numbers to raise ticket prices or increase # of shows to bring in even more money. Plus you could create exclusive merchandise (posters, autographed items, DVDs of the show with special features, etc) and maybe get a cut of concession sales. Also, there could be other sponsors for the Movie Tour and the main sponsor could receive money from them.
I know this is a pretty rough idea, and I have no idea what the cost of building a tour like this would be, but I wonder if this could be a way for a brand to create something special for its customers and make some money.