I'm currently overseas, retired military but working out of a air force base. If you brought Brokeback in...there would be about 40 people to show up to watch the one and only evening show...mostly school teachers and teenage dependents. The exchange service wouldn't make enough money to make it a major showing.
And I'm willing to guess that throughout small-town America...its the same story. In the state of Alabma...its probably showing in Birmingham, Mobile, and Huntsville...for 3 or 4 days, and then moves on. This blaze of claimed viewership...probably is a California thing only.
I would guess that in communities not in the grip of BDS it would be a flop. I've also heard rumors of "phantom" ticket buyers intent on inflating "Per Screen" numbers.
Much easier if you're on a small number of screens.
Kind of like taking the odds on a long-shot horse at the track from 40 to 1 to 10 to 1 with a single $5000 dollar bet.