Cinema industry trends Screens and theatres Total screens, seating capacity and theatres in Australia, 1980–2020 Next update February 2022 Cinema infrastructure has changed significantly over the last forty years. The number of theatres has fallen by 32 per cent, while the number of screens has risen by 170 per cent. In 1980, the average number of screens per theatre was 1.2, but by 2020, that had increased nearly fourfold to 4.6 screens per theatre. The number of seats has remained comparitively stable, increasing by just 6 per cent over the same time period.