Worse year for the movie industry

The movie business was down both in the US and worldwide last year, final box-office figures show.

Revenues in the US dropped 6% to $8.99bn last year compared to 2004. The worldwide market fell 7.9% to $23.24bn from a 2004 all-time high, the Motion Picture Association of America said in Los Angeles.

The number of tickets sold in the US also continued its three-year decline.

Total US attendance fell by 9% to 1.4 billion – the lowest level in nearly a decade. About 240 million fewer tickets were sold last year compared to 2004.

It also was more expensive for Hollywood to market pictures. The average cost rose about 5%, from $34.4m to $36.2m.

For speciality movies, such as the hits Brokeback Mountain and March of the Penguins, marketing costs soared by 33%, reflecting the increasing competition for movies that often start in limited release.

Despite the success of independent and smaller movies, blockbusters continued to draw the largest audiences.

Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith was the top-grossing film with $380.3m. Altogether, eight movies grossed more than $200m each.

The good news for studios was that their average cost to make a movie dropped by about $2.5m to $60m.

Cinemas have worried that their ticket sales are being undercut by DVD sales. But a survey of 3,000 moviegoers found that those who ad the most DVD players, big-screen TVs, digital cable and other high-tech movie options also saw the most movies at cinemas – an average of 8.2 per year.

Also, 69% of those polled said they preferred to see a movie in a cinema rather than at home – although nearly a third agreed that their home offered “the ultimate movie-watching experience”.