Michael points out a new Lincoln Journal Starthat addresses issues pertaining to running "blockbusters", AotC in particular, in a "smaller" market (Lincoln has a population of around 200,000).

Of particular interest was the theater owner from an smaller town in Nebraska who says he's trying to engender a sense of nostalgia by showing AotC on fewer screens so people have to queue up to get in.

Douglas tries to run multiple prints of the biggest movies. For example, "Spider-Man" opened on six of the city's 27 first-run screens. But "Star Wars: Episode II" is opening on only three.

The number of local screens available to any big movie is a function of terms of play length for the second print and of scheduling of upcoming releases, Rhodes said.

The expansion of the number of prints has had an impact on the smallest movie markets as well. Little towns can now keep pace with big cities, if theater owners decide to do so.

"It used to be a struggle for some of the smaller markets," said Bill Barstow of Main Street Theatres, which operates theaters in Fremont, Hastings, Nebraska City and Orange City, Iowa. "Now, if they're willing to consent to the terms of the studios, they can get whatever they want. But most of them can't commit to the terms, so nothing has really changed."

The most problematic of the terms for single-screen towns is length of play.

For "Star Wars: Episode II," Twentieth Century Fox, the film's distributor, required 12-week commitments for theaters in metropolitan areas and four-week runs in the smallest markets. In smaller towns, the audience for any picture is exhausted in a week or two, making a month-long run a money-losing proposition.

Multiple-screen openings have made it possible for thousands to see a movie in its first few days of release. But, culturally, an event movie is still expected to create lines before opening and be more than a run-of-the-mill release.

"We haven't really adjusted to that yet," Barstow said. "You take a picture like "Star Wars,' and people want some nostalgia, where they want to be in line for something. With that many seats available, they've taken away some of the nostalgia.