Paul Dergarabedian Quotations

The Potter franchise is just irresistible to moviegoers. The combination of the Potter books and the love audiences have for the movies conspired a big opening weekend.

We're getting to the point where people only want to go out to see movies that are as big as the screen. They want to see 'event movies' like 'Kong.' The rest they'll wait for.

We're going to need some huge performances by these movies, or this will be the third down year in a row. One or two movies is not enough; moviegoers need to be excited about going back to the theaters.

We're at a technological and cultural crossroads. It's possibly the dawn of a new paradigm in how films are released.

We have an up weekend - 5% over the last New Year's weekend. Propelled by these two blockbusters, it's really moving the box office.

There are these cycles in Hollywood. Part of that is once there's one success, everyone tries to emulate the success,

Lucas is in a unique position himself to create these rules and enforce them. He paid for the entire film himself, and he and Fox are just trying to maintain absolute control over the film.

Love and loss are two emotions that everyone can relate to, and that's why these movies really pull at our heartstrings.

Last year was a tough year anyway, and this puts a fine point on it.

Moviegoers have so many more options today that the movie-going experience has to be better than ever. It's no longer just about the movie -- it's more about the total experience.

No one had any idea it would do this kind of business.

I don't think you can fault the marketing because everyone knew the movie was coming out. But when time and bad reviews conspire against you, it's hard to make a dent in the marketplace.

Forty-year-old virgins everywhere are celebrating the No. 1 opening of their hero.

This was not a weekend destined to be a blockbuster weekend. Really, really slow. Audiences seemed somewhat indifferent again. That's the scary part for the industry. It really takes a lot to get them out there to see a movie. It seems like any competition, like baseball, really cuts in big-time.

Hollywood likes short-hand pitches for a film. 'Speed' could be pitched as 'Die Hard on a bus,' ... Remakes are the ultimate short-hand pitch. In 20 years when someone wants to remake 'Speed' they'll just say 'It's Speed.'

Harry Potter is showing that people still want to go to the movies, but still they need a good reason to go.

Harry Potter' is clearly dominating the business. It's the movie that everybody hoped it would be. The box-office performance is living up to, and maybe at this point, exceeding expectations.

This was a good kickoff to what I think will be a pretty good run leading up to summer.

I think it has more to do with product than any other factor because, look, last summer huge summer, ... There were DVDs. The ticket prices were high. The concession prices were high. But people were lining up for those movies more than they are this year because of the movies more than anything.

I think we're being blinded by the blockbusters. Sports movies have been pretty consistent. It's not a hotbed of $100 million films, but it's a solid performing genre.

It gave people a way to discover these movies rather than the traditional marketing that is thrown their way. Hey, whatever gets 'em in the theater, I'm sure the studio doesn't mind.

It had a huge impact. It was really a film that everyone became instantly fascinated by and it emboldened filmmakers and studios to believe that if you had the right concept and a great marketing campaign, it did not matter what the budget of the movie was.

I think that's the problem with those shrinking video windows, and that can affect any summer; as long as those video windows are shorter and shorter, it's going to cause a lot of worry on the part of theater owners.

I think the thought is that this movie would have opened bigger, because it's 'King Kong' and it's Peter Jackson.

People are pulled in so many directions. We're all trying to find enough time in the day to get our music fix, food fix, movie fix, and there's only so much time in the day or week to do that. . . . The trick is to make your entertainment option the most desirable.

Out of 400 or 450 movies released every year, maybe 300 are independent films. The only ones you hear about are the breakouts. They don't all make money. Most don't, even if they only have only a $1 million budget, ... If you break even you're doing great.

Out of 400 or 450 movies released every year, maybe 300 are independent films, ... The only ones you hear about are the breakouts. They don't all make money. Most don't, even if they only have a $1 million budget. If you break even you're doing great.

Star Wars' opened the door to the idea of a franchise that could be successful, even if a sequel doesn't do well. It made viable the idea that, with sequels, the law of diminishing returns doesn't always apply.

Mary' was a really strong holdover. It only dropped 8 percent from last week. That's tremendous, considering the amount of competition there is. Word of mouth boosted that film big.

Mary' was a really strong holdover, ... It only dropped 8 percent from last week. That's tremendous, considering the amount of competition there is. Word of mouth boosted that film big.

I think people need a really strong reason to go to the movies and to pay the 10 bucks per person and to go out of the house and take that leap of faith, and 'March of the Penguins' certainly was unique and made it worthwhile to go out to the movie theater.

That's very respectable. They're in the top 10 (for the weekend), and there were a lot of other independent films out there competing against it. We'll see how it carries over to next weekend.

That's the movie that could get us out of the slump.

We really need them to do well, ... There's a lot of ground to make up in the next few months if we're even going to be close to last year's attendance.

The pressure is on, ... This holiday season is being held to a high standard in terms of quality, because we always need that quality, and in terms of the box office.

We still have to acknowledge that we're down.

You look at the fact that DVD sales are down and it tells you again that it's product-driven, ... Because why would somebody want to buy a DVD of a movie they didn't want to see in the first place? You still need to have great movies at the beginning of the pipeline and that feeds everything else.

We're still waiting for the fall to supply us with a major hit.

Who would have thought in a year we're having this down box office that we'd have the second-biggest Thanksgiving ever?

There can be lots of reasons for a film's delay.

There hasn't been a lot of positive word-of-mouth on the mainstream films this summer. Great marketing, huge production spending can probably get you a mega opening, but beyond that, it's up to the moviegoers to spread the word.

Trying to take lessons from this summer is going to be like trying to capture lightning in a bottle, ... because it's all changing all the time. By next summer, who knows where audience habits and tastes will be?

This should be a wakeup call. It's fair warning with plenty of time to fix things. If ignored, it's at the peril of the entire industry.

There are just too many of these adult-oriented comedies out there that audiences were sort of pulled in a lot of different directions.

With the box office dwindling, all this is seen as another nail in the coffin. Theater owners are afraid once you start releasing films this way (simultaneously in other formats), all movies could go this way. That would put their business in jeopardy.

Family films and horror films are the most consistently performing genres at the box office, and there really is a lot of choice out there for both right now.

We've never seen anything this before. This is an unprecedented achievement.

We've never really seen a Globes bump like this.

We've never needed two films like this more than we do now. It's the knockout punch that Hollywood needs.

This was the worst weekend of the year at the box office and the slowest start to summer we've seen in years.

To have such a strong Thanksgiving and the second-best ever business in what has overall been a down year is pretty impressive. Thank goodness for Harry Potter . It has reinvigorated a lot of people to go to the movies.

You have to look at who's online, who's the audience for the movie. For this movie, it's a perfect choice because it will appeal to younger audiences.

What didn't go wrong? That's the question. This was a summer that really could be characterized as under a cloud from the beginning. Usually, the first weekend in May, you have a big film that kind of kicks off the summer. It didn't happen that way this time, and that was sort of an indicator of things to come.

When a good movie strikes, people go to the theatres.

Believe me, when 'Star Wars' comes out, people will drop everything and come to the theater.

Every summer has its own unique pathology, trajectory, and this is not a summer we want to repeat. Next summer looks really good, it looks like a pretty darn good summer, ... If next year we're down, it will be 'Houston, we have a problem.'

Everyone thought we had so much choice with video and CDs and just the technology we had five or 10 years ago,

Every month, there's a new animated film entering the marketplace. Not all of them can do well. There's going to be some casualties out there, for sure.

At some point, there will have to be some kind of ticket-price adjustment just to get people back into theaters.

At the end of the day, the language may be offensive to some people, but the movies are harmless. A lesson is learned, someone grows up a little and there's a good moral. Everyone goes home happy.

Concerns like this can apply to any movie with violence, though 'Get Rich' may get a little more scrutiny because of the reputation of the star, ... But all this does, really, is serve to create a mythology around the movie. It may create a mystique around it and make it a success, similar to 50 Cent's musical persona.

Especially the younger people (who) are used to, 'I can plug in my video game and play it now,' 'I can download music and hear it now,' 'I can take my iPod with me and listen to it wherever and whenever I want.' Going to the movies requires that you're on a time frame and in a location that's dictated by someone else.

There's sort of a box-office boom right now, which is good news heading into summer.

There's something cinematic about sports movies, ... They're easy to pitch. You always have a winner, usually an underdog, and a loser. You don't need a lot of special effects.

There's no one reason for this slump. This convergence of technology and culture, combined with so many options for entertainment, has created a pie with so many slices now. It's tougher and tougher to grab a piece.

The track record of horror films tells you maybe Hollywood should just release horror movies to be successful. I can't think of a more consistently performing genre at the box office.

The very strong marketing campaign will produce some strong numbers this weekend.

The studios are hedging bets. They have a known commodity. Some of these sequels have been out-earning their predecessor's opening weekend. But when it comes to final box, they don't always measure up.

The studios are hedging bets. They have a known commodity, ... Some of these sequels have been out-earning their predecessor's opening weekend. But when it comes to final box, they don't always measure up.

The three newcomers kind of had a rough time in this marketplace, ... We think the audiences were fragmented and sent in a lot of different directions.

The Super Bowl is one of those television events like the Academy Awards that really dominates and monopolizes the audience.

The summer slump really put us into a shortfall. It's heartening that there were four up weekends in a row, and that we have some big films in the pipeline.

The summer slump really put us into a shortfall, ... It's heartening that there were four up weekends in a row, and that we have some big films in the pipeline.

The themes Tyler Perry presents resonate very strongly with the black community. It reminds me of 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding.' It has elements of comedy and drama and community that just definitely works.

Sometimes there are movies that are very popular but not popular at all with critics. There are certain movies that are of a genre that rarely get good reviews, so the studios figure why get them out there and get that negative buzz going.

Producers can get plenty of bang for their buck with films like this.

People are very selective right now about how they are choosing to spend their discretionary income.

The movies didn't inspire people as much as they did last year. People are being more careful about how they spend their discretionary income with gas at $3 a gallon.

A couple of years ago it was 'sequel, sequel, sequel,' ... I think Hollywood is erring on the side of caution by thinking that a concept that has proven to be successful can be a way to hedge its bets and take out some of the risk.

November and December are pound-for-pound just as important as the summer, ... You see about 20 percent of the gross for the year in about seven or eight weeks. And this year looks to me to be a strong finish to a year that has really had its ups and downs.

Definitely not a weekend we'd want to see repeated.

Anything that goes out of control with the marketing machine of a movie can cause a problem. The way audiences often get wind of it is when there's a trailer or posters in theaters, and suddenly the movies are gone.

as each group grows, each group ages with their stars. Without a doubt, an aging population will provide more opportunities for older actresses.

Audiences want something smart and intelligent, but the rules of marketing still apply ... if it's too esoteric, you may lose the mainstream audience,

Audiences today are kind of jaded. The younger audience, teenagers, are looking for edgy comedy. People love animals, but that doesn't guarantee they're going to line up around the block to see a movie about animals.

Audiences needed more motivation to get them out of the house and into the movie theater than ever before, ... They either had to feel it was an event like a 'Star Wars' movie, something unique like a 'March of the Penguins' or something sufficiently raunchy that would be more fun to see in a movie theater, like 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin' or 'Wedding Crashers.'

Audiences are so desperate to find a film they like, they're just hanging on to the same movies.

Audiences are obviously in the mood for some light-hearted films.

Audiences are evidently paying attention to critical raves and really showing up in big numbers for these independent movies that have been very well-reviewed and kind of get a must-see vibe going for them.

You see this type of buzz for movies like 'Star Wars,' 'Lord of the Rings,' typical big blockbusters. But for a film that's a very high concept horror film with a solid cast, it's unusual.

This is the first year under $9 billion since 2001 and the biggest gross percentage drop since 1985.

This is right on the money in terms of animated openings. This debut on 'Chicken Little' says they can do it, and they can bring in an audience.

The way that younger audiences are consuming their entertainment is totally changing. There have to be innovative ideas brought to bear.

This could be one of our strongest Decembers in a while. There's no doubt these movies are going to be big. The question is how high they can go, and which one will go higher.

This film has everything going for it: the critical acclaim, the word of mouth and, of course, the seven Golden Globe nominations never hurt. It's become the must-see movie of the season.

This fall season has been in a word, spectacular. We'd been so fixated on the box-office slump, and here we are in a fall boom. This is terrific for the industry and bodes well for a very strong holiday season.

This is a buzz type of movie. Like 'Wedding Crashers,' it's one of those that just begs for repeat viewings and for people to tell their friends about it. It's sufficiently outrageous to get people talking it up and to continue to bring in an audience.

This is a movie that's a conversation piece. People are going to be telling other people, quoting different lines and scenes. That's what's going to sustain it in the marketplace.

This is a film that builds through word of mouth and critical acclaim. People want to see what all the fuss is about.

The younger male audience, if you ask 10 of them if they'd rather go to the movies or play a video game, a lot of them are going to say they'd rather play a video game. Hollywood cannot release mediocre movies and expect people to line up in record numbers when consumers have so many options for their entertainment.