because the subscription service that would serve as the blueprint seems to be on a trajectory towards bankruptcy?

Unless you can get the vendors who sell theaters the digital film to reduce their prices for new releases, there is still an intrinsic cost to the movie itself that isn't going to be defeated by a small increase in snack purchases. Actually, I hear this being a big selling point (increased snack sales), but of the 5 people I know who use MoviePass, 4 of them sneak snacks in via purses. Anecdotal as it may be, I don't trust this reasoning to be a theater's savior either.