| 3-D movies help Global box office to record $29.9 billion in 2009 |
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11/03/2010 18:51 (702 Day 17:43 minutes ago) | |||||
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The FINANCIAL -- Global movie ticket sales hit $29.9 billion last year, up 7.6 percent helped by 3-D movies, according to an annual report released on March 10 by the Motion Picture Association of America.
Ticket sales outside the U.S. and Canada rose 6.3 percent to $19.3 billion, the Motion Picture Association of America said in an e-mailed statement, according to Bloomberg. U.S. box-office sales increased 10.1 percent to a record $10.6 billion, the MPAA said.
3-D movies boosted U.S. ticket sales last year, accounting for 11 percent of total box-office revenue, up from 2 percent in 2008, the same source reported. Hollywood studios are turning to 3-D films to bolster attendance and ticket sales, underscored by the record box- office success of “Avatar,” James Cameron’s 3-D epic. Cinemas on average charge about $3 more per ticket for a 3-D film. “Digital presentation and 3-D hold the promise of a dramatic game change in moviemaking and movie-going,” Bob Pisano, president and interim ceo of the MPAA, said in the statement.
Reuters wrote that the Asia Pacific box office increased 12.3 percent, mostly in Japan and China, generating $7.7 billion in ticket sales.
The average ticket price in the U.S. and Canada rose 32 cents, or 4 percent, to $7.50, even though consumer prices for most goods fell amid the longest and deepest recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s, according to AP. Despite tighter pursestrings, the number of tickets sold in the U.S. and Canada grew nearly 6 percent to 1.42 billion, as people sought a way to escape their worries. The number of yearly visits to the cinema rose to 4.3 per person from 4.2, the first increase since 2002, when it was 5.2 per person.
"We believe it's because in times of economic distress, people are looking for value," Pisano said, arguing that going to the movies with a family of four is still cheaper than attending a theme park or major sporting event, the same source reported.
The number of films released by U.S. companies has declined over the past three years, and in 2009 it dropped 12 percent to 558 from 633 the year before, according to Reuters. The MPAA said the decline was due to the economic downturn and the 14-week strike two years ago by Hollywood writers.
It often takes a year or more for a movie to go from script to theatrical release, so a strike can have a delayed effect on the industry, the same source reported.
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