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Hollywood finishing 2009 with US$10 bln box office
Source: Agencies |
December 23, 2009, Wednesday
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AUDIENCES have given Hollywood a big present in advance of Christmas -- US and Canadian movie ticket sales for 2009 were expected to cross the annual US$10 billion mark last night for the first time.
Already, ticket sales have topped 2008's US$9.63 billion as moviegoers flocked to "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," the year's top seller in the United States and Canada and "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," among many others.
Outside the United States and Canada, ticket sales have reached US$15 billion, up about 5 percent from 2008, showing industry strength in a global recession as audiences turn to movies as an inexpensive form of entertainment, box office watchers said.
Through Sunday, the total US and Canadian box office stood just US$36 million short of crossing the US$10 billion mark, said tracking firm Hollywood.com Box Office.
With Monday generating US$29 million in ticket sales, led by strong results for "Avatar," the industry was expected to cross US$10 billion yesterday.
"We're looking at some huge numbers for the next 10 days or so that will put us well over that US$10 billion mark" for the year, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Hollywood.com Box Office. He expected the 2009 total to come to more than US$10.4 billion as the busy Christmas holiday unfolds.
Ticket sales on Christmas Day last year were US$76 million, and Dergarabedian expects this year's total to surpass that with "Sherlock Holmes," "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel," and "It's Complicated" hitting theaters.
Through Sunday, Time Warner Inc-owned Warner Bros, which had two big hits in "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" and "The Hangover," was the top studio at US and Canadian box offices with 19.6 percent market share and more than US$1.9 billion in ticket sales, said researcher Rentrak Corporation.
Sales outside the United States and Canada had reached US$15 billion through Sunday, compared with US$14.3 billion for all of 2008, Rentrak said.
"In this era right now, where job creation is so critical, our industry is one that is showing some major benefits to this economy, partly because of the growth of the international market," said Dan Glickman, chairman and chief executive of Hollywood trade group the Motion Picture Association of America.
Hollywood generated a positive trade surplus of US$11.7 billion for the United States in 2008, according to the association.
Hollywood's six major studios dominate box offices overseas almost as much as the domestic markets. For instance, of last year's top 20 box office hits, only one was financed completely outside the United States -- the French film "Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis".
Jack Kyser, founding economist with the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, an agency that closely tracks Hollywood, said he expects continued success for the US movie industry in appealing to international audiences.
"As you have emerging middle class consumers around the world, that means there is going to be an increased demand for filmed entertainment," Kyser said.
Already, ticket sales have topped 2008's US$9.63 billion as moviegoers flocked to "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," the year's top seller in the United States and Canada and "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," among many others.
Outside the United States and Canada, ticket sales have reached US$15 billion, up about 5 percent from 2008, showing industry strength in a global recession as audiences turn to movies as an inexpensive form of entertainment, box office watchers said.
Through Sunday, the total US and Canadian box office stood just US$36 million short of crossing the US$10 billion mark, said tracking firm Hollywood.com Box Office.
With Monday generating US$29 million in ticket sales, led by strong results for "Avatar," the industry was expected to cross US$10 billion yesterday.
"We're looking at some huge numbers for the next 10 days or so that will put us well over that US$10 billion mark" for the year, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Hollywood.com Box Office. He expected the 2009 total to come to more than US$10.4 billion as the busy Christmas holiday unfolds.
Ticket sales on Christmas Day last year were US$76 million, and Dergarabedian expects this year's total to surpass that with "Sherlock Holmes," "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel," and "It's Complicated" hitting theaters.
Through Sunday, Time Warner Inc-owned Warner Bros, which had two big hits in "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" and "The Hangover," was the top studio at US and Canadian box offices with 19.6 percent market share and more than US$1.9 billion in ticket sales, said researcher Rentrak Corporation.
Sales outside the United States and Canada had reached US$15 billion through Sunday, compared with US$14.3 billion for all of 2008, Rentrak said.
"In this era right now, where job creation is so critical, our industry is one that is showing some major benefits to this economy, partly because of the growth of the international market," said Dan Glickman, chairman and chief executive of Hollywood trade group the Motion Picture Association of America.
Hollywood generated a positive trade surplus of US$11.7 billion for the United States in 2008, according to the association.
Hollywood's six major studios dominate box offices overseas almost as much as the domestic markets. For instance, of last year's top 20 box office hits, only one was financed completely outside the United States -- the French film "Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis".
Jack Kyser, founding economist with the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, an agency that closely tracks Hollywood, said he expects continued success for the US movie industry in appealing to international audiences.
"As you have emerging middle class consumers around the world, that means there is going to be an increased demand for filmed entertainment," Kyser said.
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