I now wonder about the viability of an ad-supported movie theater and grocery store.

Re: movie theatres. We’re already on that road. 20 years ago I’d go to a move and see a few trailers. Now I have to sit through a bunch of ads, then trailers, and then finally we get to the movie I paid for.

Movie theaters are pretty much ad supported aren't they. From what I hear the payment we make doesn't cover the cost of the film, which is why you get about half an hour of ads and trailers before the film starts.

Grocery store is definitely not viable - the profit margins are already among the lowest in retail and don't leave much room to drop. Movie theaters just need to be able to pay for the building and electricity and to clean up once in a while though (food and drink could be handled by outside vendors renting space to set up). Seems doable in a large enough metro.

It's more like free public attractions like national parks. In real life they are paid by taxpayers which are in turn paid by estate taxes and income taxes by local residents.