By
David Hancock

US and Canadian box office grossed $10.6bn (up 10.1 per cent) in 2009, of which 11 per cent (or $1.14bn) came from 3D screenings. For the US and Canada, admissions rose by 5.5 per cent to 1.42bn, the first rise since 2006, leading to an average ticket price of $7.50, up by 4.4 per cent on previous year (similar to the 2008 rise of 4.3 per cent). The highest-grossing film of the year was Transformers:Revenge of the Fallen which grossed $401m in US and Canada during the calendar year. Of the top?five films, two were rated PG and three were PG-13. Admissions per head rose to 4.3, the first rise since 2002 but well down on the 5.2 experienced in that year. There were 558 films released in cinemas in 2009, down considerably on 2008 largely due to a source change. Of these 558 films, 158 were from MPAA member companies (ie studios), a number that has been declining steadily since 2006 (204 films). Most of this decline is down to films released by MPAA studio subsidiaries, as these operations are reduced by studios. There were 20 3D films releases in 2009, up from eight in 2008.

There were 6,039 movie theatres in the USA in 2009, according to Rentrak data quoted by MPAA, with a combined 39,717 screens (of which 689 are drive-in) down from 40,194 in 2008. Indoor screens have fallen over the past three years. The reduction in screens has come principally amongst miniplex sites (2-7 screens) and single screens, although the latter only constitute four per cent of all screens. In terms of audiences, there were 217.1m moviegoers in 2009. Of these, 37 million Hispanic moviegoers purchased 300 million movie tickets in 2009, a per moviegoer rate of more than eight tickets a year, the highest rate of any ethnic group. Young people from 12-24 represent about one quarter of moviegoers, or more than 52 million moviegoers, and one third of tickets sold, larger proportions than they represent of the population (19 per cent). Women accounted for 55 per cent of tickets sold (and 51 per cent of the population).

Global box office revenues reached $29.9bn in 2009, up 7.6 per cent on 2008, with Asia Pacific outperforming other regions. International revenues accounted for 64 per cent of the total, equalling $19.3bn, compared to $18.1bn in 2008 and $14.3bn in 2005. Data released by MPAA, including data supplied by Screen Digest, show that EMEA territories grossed $9.9bn (up 2.5 per cent), Asia Pacific was worth $7.7bn (up 12.3 per cent) and Latin America earned $1.7bn (up 3.6 per cent).

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