JOHN KRIER / INDUSTRY ANALYST

How will we know when “Titanic” sails past “Star Wars” as the all-time box-office champ? John Krier will tell us. He’s president of Exhibitor Relations Co., the nation’s leading film business research firm. His seven-plus decades of experience (he is in his 80s) is relied on not just for movie grosses, but also for analyzing moviegoing trends that match films to screens and even assist in the design of multiplexes.

UNSINKABLE: “There’s nothing to knock ‘Titanic’ off at the moment. The pictures out there are a little soft. Some of those titles--’Desperate Measures’--I wonder why people even pay to see them, though they each have their niche.”

THE NEXT BLOCKBUSTER: “I’ve looked in the future and don’t find much. ‘Primary Colors’ might come through, and I hear good reports on ‘Zorro.’ ‘Mercury Rising’ could do well, but ‘Godzilla’ is the only big event movie . . . right now.”

FLOTSAM: “There’s a lot of junk out there. I was going to see ‘Sphere,’ but I got bad reports on it. And even ones I want to see and the ones I advise my kids to pay to see are few and far between. Too many are cookie-cutter stories.”

REAL ESTATE BOOM: “I went to the opening in Winnetka of Pacific Theaters’ new complex and can’t believe the money they put into it--millions and millions of dollars. The palm trees in the parking lot alone cost a fortune. It’s got 5,500 seats. . . . I’d be worried about filling all those seats.”

THEATER THREATS: “I remember when night baseball started and that was seen as a threat to movies. Even flagpole sitting. These things time after time affected business but it always rebounded. I have a friend who contends that participation sports today has cut motion picture business. Everyone’s in sports now and particularly girls, who weren’t before.”

THEATER TRENDS: “The past year or two they all want to put in stadium-type theaters. That’s not new. Years ago I had a theater called the Egyptian in Boise, and it was stadium-style. They went out of style. Now they’re back in style.”

SURPRISE HIT: “Some things I thought would be a tough sell are doing very well, like ‘Good Will Hunting.’ Matt Damon did very well with Robin Williams.”

COOKING THE BOOKS: “I had one customer complain that I’d said business one week was up over last year. He’s right. While the gross is up 2%, attendance is down slightly and that’s been going that way for some time. Technically, both box-office grosses and the number of tickets sold should be reported.”