After reporting a busy summer, local movie theaters said they are seeing continued high attendance through the end of the year.

“We were breaking records the week of Thanksgiving,” said Rose Gottschalk, first associate manager of Phoenix Theatres in Dubuque.

Gottschalk said about 10,000 people came to her theater the week of Thanksgiving, including about 2,600 on Black Friday. Phoenix Theatres has six screens, with auditoriums that can hold between 60 and 120 people for a total building capacity of about 500 at any given time. Gottschalk credits one November release that has grossed $359 million and counting domestically at the box office, according to IMDb.

“‘Wicked’ has just been doing phenomenally,” she said.

Also currently in theaters is “Moana 2,” grossing $337 million — and counting — domestically.

The stream of big releases continues Friday, Dec. 20, with the premieres of “Mufasa: The Lion King” and “Sonic the Hedgehog 3.” Dylan Bahl, concession stand worker at Phoenix Theatres, said he expects a repeat of Thanksgiving week.

“I think it will probably be as busy as when ‘Moana (2)’ and ‘Wicked’ came out,” Bahl said.

Gottschalk said moviegoers should buy tickets in advance for these releases due to high interest.

“With any big movies or big holidays, we’re definitely going to see a spike in attendance,” she said.

Taylor Casel, new owner of Voy 2 Theatres in Maquoketa, Iowa, also is happy with recent moviegoing trends. Since her two-screen theater reopened in August after a two-month closure for an ownership transition and renovations, she said attendance has grown “significantly.”

The week of Thanksgiving, Casel sold about 150 tickets, about half capacity, for nine shows in a row, which she said was a good turnout for a theater in a town the size of Maquoketa — about 6,000 people.

“These new releases have really helped,” Casel said.

Casel expects good trends through the Christmas holiday and even until April. A longtime employee of the theater, she said winter has always been its busiest time of year.

Aside from relying on the promotion of Hollywood movies, theater managers such as Gottschalk and Casel said they have found creative ways to keep people coming into theaters.

Movie-themed merchandise brings people in and is especially popular with kids, Bahl said. At Phoenix, moviegoers can get Moana blankets and, soon, collectibles for this weekend’s releases, such as a special Sonic the Hedgehog popcorn bucket.

Nostalgia is another way to bring people into the theater, especially around the holidays. Gottschalk said showings of the 1954 classic “White Christmas,” which ran through Monday, were popular at Phoenix.

Casel recently combined the old and the new with a free double-showing of new Christmas movie “Red One” and 2004’s “The Polar Express.” She said 265 people showed up.

“We actually had a lot of people think we were still closed so this (event) got the word out,” she said.

Aside from a Halloween showing of 1988’s “Beetlejuice” and 1995’s “Casper,” Casel said the string of big releases this fall and winter has prevented her from holding too many throwback showings. However, she expects more throwbacks next year, increased matinees in the summer and other special events — including a visit from the Easter Bunny.

“We got a lot of big events planned for 2025,” she said.

Gottschalk is also optimistic about turnout next year. “Captain America: Brave New World” comes to theaters in February and “Snow White” comes out about a month later.

“I know at the beginning of the year, we will have some crowds,” she said.

The general manager of AMC Classic in Dubuque was unavailable to comment on this story.