Are movie theaters dead, or is the big screen irreplaceable?

Count the third places we have left. Malls are dying, churches are emptying, bowling alleys are condos now. The theater is one of the last cheap, democratic public rooms where strangers gather for something other than commerce or worship. Teenagers need somewhere to be that's not school or home. Old people need somewhere to go that's not a doctor's office. When the cinema in my town closed, the teenagers just... scattered. There's no replacement third place waiting. There's only the couch, alone, which isn't a place at all.