Industry report: International box-office revenue soars in 2010

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Movie ticket sales may have been flat in the U.S. and Canada last year, but Hollywood’s international cinema business soared to new heights in 2010.

Global box-office receipts for all films released last year reached a high of $31.8 billion, an increase of 8% over 2009, according to a newly released report from the Motion Picture Assn. of America.

The theatrical market statistics report, which the MPAA conducts annually, found that though ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada remained unchanged at $10.6 billion, international revenue jumped 13% between 2010 and 2009.

The largest growth occurred in Latin America and the Asia Pacific region, which grew 25% and 21%, respectively, and accounted for $10.8 billion in box-office revenue. It marked the first time that Europe, the Middle East and Africa, which generated $10.4 billion in box-office revenue, accounted for less than half of all international ticket sales.

China accounted for more than 40% of the Asia Pacific box office, although it remains a ‘highly restrictive market for foreign film distribution,’ the report notes.

‘Despite a weak economy, shifting business models, and the ongoing impact of digital theft, we had another record year at the box office driven by growth outside of the U.S. and Canada,’ said Bob Pisano, president and interim chief executive of the MPAA.

Although the number of people who saw movies was up 3% last year at 223 million, each person saw fewer movies on average -- six in 2010 down from 6.5 the previous year. As a result, the total number of tickets sold in the U.S. and Canada dropped 5% to 1.34 billion, returning to the 2008 level.

The survey also provided the clearest indication yet of the effect of premium-priced 3-D movie tickets on box-office receipts. Movies in 3-D accounted for 21%, or $2.2 billion, of the total, nearly doubling 2009’s level. One in three people in the U.S. and Canada saw a movie in 3-D in 2010.

Revenue from 2-D movies dropped 11% in 2011 to $8.4 billion.

Though the number of screens worldwide remain unchanged at about 150,000, the proportion of digital screens increased dramatically, with one-quarter of all screens now digital.

-- Richard Verrier