[jack2222]

You're completely right and obviously many many people would want to go and see something like the good the bad and the ugly in theatres - probably enough to fill the theatre for a showing or two - but the problem is how would they know it's on? A lot of people look up what movies are on that week, but most people are aware that the big movies are ok a the moment because they're marketed and obviously that marketing costs money. What studio or theatre chain is going to spend millions (or even thousands) on marketing a 30+ year old movie that might take in a couple of hundred k at the box office.

There's a reason cinemas don't play old movies and it's not because they think there's no one who wants to see them, sadly the logistics of it are too costly (in all sorts of ways beyond just base line finances too).

[karmelapple]

Event calendars in cities I’ve lived in typically have “special midnight movie” or “classic film screening” events listed, alongside things like “art in the park” or “July 4th fireworks.” I think event calendars like that can be pretty big drivers of traffic, and they should be relatively easy to setup almost anywhere.

Meetup.com could even be used to get the word out, though use of that might be limited in many places.

[kbenson]

Often movie theaters run special programs for periods of the year (or continuously), where they take a showing or two a week on a less busy night, and dedicate it to a series of movies they advertise through fliers. Since it's all planned out in advance for a few months, it's easy to see what's coming whenever you're at that theater. For example, they might to a horror themed series of movies, and you get Nightmare on Elm Street, Hellraiser, Halloween, etc, each their own week and advertised together on a flier or poster months in advance with the date of each.

[malloryerik]

How about crowd sourcing, Groupon-style?

For example the audience would vote with their ticket purchases, which would kick in once a threshold had been met (50% of seats filled, etc.).

The cinema itself could market its web/mobile app instead of individual films, or actually both at once.

[enchiridion]

I'm not too sure about that. I'm also trying to decide if a movie is worth seeing when watching an ad. Clearly the classics are worth seeing, so they would just need to let people know. Is that enough to make up the difference? I'm not sure...