"Part of the studio MO is to have movies that everyone wants to see -- that's how you get a blockbuster going. If you just hit one demographic, you might not hit those heights," he said.

We talked at length about one of my favorite movies this summer, "Star Trek," and how that film compared with the seemingly similar "X-Men Origins: Wolverine." Gray said "Wolverine," which kicked off the summer season, should have benefited more by being first out of the gate, but despite its rather broad marketing strategy, it still felt "niche," while "'Star Trek' was a movie for everyone."

"It bust out of [being] a genre movie, like 'Iron Man,'" he said, referring to last year's surprise blockbuster (with a sequel slated for next summer, natch). He added: "People were rooting for ['Star Trek'] ahead of time, and the marketing captured that" by giving people what the movie promised to deliver: "a grand adventure with characters that they can root for."

So is Gray surprised by this year's box-office success? Not really. He readily admitted that the slate of films so far this year is stronger than it has been in previous years, and it appeals to a broader audience. And don't think the extra gross being generated at the box office has to do with the recession. His tracking numbers show that, as in most other categories this recession, some months have been up and others down, like March, which was "dreadful."

"What that shows you is what we've always known: It's the movies," Gray said. And here's his lesson for studios, from a marketing perspective: All those billboards, TV spots, trailers and websites need to "live up to the movie's promise." A lot of marketing "misses the point of why people want to see the movie."

So just as marketers shouldn't over-promise how white my shirts can be, maybe next time Fox wants to roll out an "X-Men" property, it should sell it as less of an epic and more of a good old-fashioned comic-book yarn (that will still, of course, appeal to everyone).

Next test: Warner Bros.' "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" opens in about two weeks.