Personally, I don't think the Western has ever faded completely from entertainment. Even if the costumes and environments change, the concept of a lone warrior enforcing justice in a wild and lawless expanse is eternal. The same themes of honor and bravery play out whether you're in the Old West, Feudal Japan, or the dark streets of New York. Good stories transcend setting.
As far as how the movie industry operates, I think of it thusly: a movie comes around and is very successful, and then for the next few years lesser film companies will try to copy its success. Hollywood is a town of copycats in my observation, and it takes a while for audiences to get so burned out that innovation is demanded. There was a surge of Westerns in the 70's, a surge of gory slasher flicks in the 80's, disaster movies in the early 90's, and so on. I mean, even Finding Nemo had a direct copycat in Shark Tale.
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