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LOS ANGELES (AP) - Moviegoers around the world pushed global box office revenues to a record $26.7 billion in 2007, but rising ticket prices and a weakening dollar accounted for much of the increase, the Motion Picture Association of America said Wednesday.
The group’s annual report said box office revenue outside North America climbed 4.9 percent to $17.1 billion, representing nearly two-thirds of all ticket sales.
Revenues in the United States and Canada increased 5.4 percent to a record $9.6 billion, with admissions unchanged at 1.4 billion tickets sold, and ticket prices 5 percent higher at an average $6.88.
Dan Glickman, chief executive of the association, said the report was good news but acknowledged major studios got a big bump from a weak dollar.
“There’s no question that a significant portion of that increase is due to the currency situation,” he told reporters during a conference call.
The organization did not break out the effect of the currency. But the U.S. dollar fell 6.1 percent against the Canadian dollar and 5.9 percent against the euro from the first week of July 2006 to the first week of July 2007. That boosts U.S. dollar revenues even if ticket prices abroad remain the same.
Total global ticket sales reached $25.5 billion in 2006.
The association, which includes the six major Hollywood studios and their affiliates, also pointed out the increasing impact of high-tech goods on theater attendance.
North American moviegoers averaged 7.9 theater trips in 2007. Those who owned or subscribed to five or more high-tech services or devices involving videos saw 11.4 movies during the year.
“We see consumers very open to the idea of the digital home and their beloved movie house, both having a bright, bright future,” Glickman said.
Some 73 percent of moviegoers researched their picks online before going to the theater, and more than half of those viewed ads or trailers online, the association said.
The report also noted the cost of moviemaking rose.
Major studios such as Paramount, Sony and Walt Disney spent an average of $106.6 million producing and marketing each film, up 6.3 percent from a year earlier. Their subsidiaries, such as Miramax and New Line, saw costs surge 54 percent to an average of $74.8 million per film.
Neither figure factored in the influence of outside investors who have increasingly financed portions of major releases.
The biggest blockbusters of 2007 in North America were Sony Pictures’ “Spider-Man 3,” Paramount’s “Shrek the Third” and “Transformers,” and Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.” All made more than $300 million.
On the Net:
Motion Picture Association of America, www.mpaa.org

by AOL

LOS ANGELES - The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) on Wednesday released its yearly film industry statistics, reflecting a 5.4 percent increase in U.S. box office receipts in 2007 to an all-time high.

Continuing a recovery that began in 2006 after an industry-wide slump in 2005, domestic box office ticket sales climbed to a record $9.63 billion over the previous year’s level of $9.14 billion.

Admissions were essentially flat in 2007 at about 1.4 billion, according to the MPAA. Higher ticket prices combined with the equal level of admissions produced the boost in overall box office revenue.

For 2007, the average cost of making and marketing a movie for MPAA companies, which include Hollywood’s major studios, rose to $106.6 million, up 6.3 percent from $100.3 million in 2006, surpassing the previous high of $105.8 million in 2003.

The average cost of a ticket rose to $6.88 in 2007 from $6.55 in 2006, or 5 percent.

Worldwide box office grew to an all-time high of $26.7 billion, up 4.7 percent from 2005’s $25.5 billion.

MPAA members include the film and television units of major media companies, Time Warner Inc, Sony Corp, The Walt Disney Co, News Corp, Viacom Inc and General Electric Co and closely held Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.

by MSN