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When these charts "adjust for inflation" do they go by # of tickets sold, standard inflation rates, or value of the dollar. I claim to know a little bit about economics, but not being actually trained in that area I lack the vocabulary necessary to explain what I'm about to write. So let's see if I can illustrate.
When Star Wars came out was the ticket price easier to afford or about the same as it is today? Or what about Gone With the Wind? I think affordability really factors into such comparisons. I know that's one major factor when I'm trying to decide if I want to see a movie in the theater or wait for it on DVD. I want to go see Hellboy 2, but since I just spent $20 to go see The Dark Knight, it's asking too much of my wallet to turn around and do it again immediately. Was that such a factor 30 years ago?
I know that when I was in college and had a $1 theater very close by, we'd see movies just about every weekend. Sometimes just to see a movie with no concern about whether it was a movie we really wanted to see. And even though our budget was tighter then than it is now, $2 to see any movie was more affordable.
That, plus with DVD and other video distribution there's much less of a chance for multiple theater viewings making it nearly impossible for modern movies to compete with the classics on number of tickets sold. Most people just wait for it to come out on DVD or cable to watch it a second time.
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