Descriptive statistics were calculated for each of four variables: opening weekend sales, total gross sales, number of theatrical releases, and number of weeks in the top 60. The sample mean and median provide analysts with a measure of how central a portion of the data set is. The range, sample variance, and sample standard deviation produce quantitative judgments about the variability of data sampled from a larger population of observations. Outliers, defined as more or less than 3 standard deviations from the mean, did not exist when the data was analyzed thoroughly; although at first glance some films seemed to perform abnormally well. There is a positive correlation between total gross sales and each of the other variables, although some were considerably stronger than others. The sample mean was calculated by dividing the sum of the observation values ​​by 10, or the number of observations. For opening weekend sales, the sample average of the 10 films chosen was $30.17 million. Total gross sales of all sampled films averaged $95.803 million. The two figures might allow the reader to draw a general conclusion that, for most films, approximately 31.5% of total gross sales were made during a film's debut weekend. The average number of theaters in which a film was released is 2,482.4. A sample mean of 13.9 was calculated using the number of weeks the sampled films were among the top 60 films. The average is usually used as a measure of central position. However, the average is extraordinarily sensitive to abnormally large or small observations (Anderson et al., 2011, p.90). When using data with extreme values, the median is preferable because its calculation is less dependent on the size of the range... middle of the paper... high-grossing films tend to be less profitable. Elaborate pictures and films with high production budgets tend to do a better job of generating gross sales. However, lavish spending equals lower profits. Studios should turn to amateur project Blair Witch Project and the Paranormal Activity phenomena for profitability advice. Creativity is the most important resource for a successful film. Superfluous explosions, extravagant lighting and redundant heroic tales are useless when the theater is empty. Works Cited Anderson, D. R., Sweeney, D. J., & Williams, T. A. (2011). Essential elements of statistics for economics and business (6th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.Hom, D. (2011, August 18). Are movie sequels profitable? Public table. Retrieved September 14, 2011, from www.tableausoftware.com/public/blog/2011/08/are-movie-sequels-profitable-1279