You guys make a good point regarding movie loss and their budget.

IMO, another reason the movies that lose big tend to be of recent date is inflated price, but emergence of DVD and HT (in last 6 years) might also a big factor. In the old days (before DVD and HT), most people tend to go see the movies that interest them so they could experience the big sounds and picture.

But nowadays, alot of HT setups are even better than in the local theater, and even if a movie interest some movie goers, they might wait it out so they could see it in their home system.