Show Business: Leap Year

Long lines at the movies

In most industries, 1982 was either bad, disastrous or forget-it. But for once Hollywood was not playing follow-the-leader, and the movie business had its biggest earnings ever. Ticket sales reached a 21-year high of nearly 1.2 billion, up 9% from 1981, and a preliminary estimate puts box-office grosses at a record $3.4 billion. The final two weeks of the year witnessed an explosion in receipts, with Tootsie the hottest current picture, bringing in $11.2 million over the New Year's weekend.

The top grosser for the entire year was, of course, E.T., which ran up $322 million through Jan....

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