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North American box office sets record in 2008 (Reuters)


Mon Jan 05, 2009, 1:38 am EST

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - It was a photo finish, but North American movie-ticket sales hit the wire in a furious gallop to post an annual gain of almost 2%, with a record haul of $9.78 billion in estimated grosses.

Avid holiday moviegoing helped the industry rewrite the history books in the home stretch, though substantial ticket-price boosts helped pad the tally. Industry estimates put average U.S. ticket prices at about $7.20, or almost 4.7% higher than in 2007.

About 1.36 billion tickets were sold in the U.S. and Canada in 2008. That compares with a total 1.40 billion admissions in the previous year.

"There were a lot of predictions this would be a really, really hard year for movie theaters , but this year in big ways and small ways turned out to be a really strong year," said Patrick Corcoran, media and research director for the National Association of Theater Owners. "We had ' Dark Knight ' in the summer, which was huge, and films grossing under $ 100 million apiece totaled $500 million more than the same category of films in the summer of 2007."

Bowing in July, Warner Bros.' Batman sequel rang up a phenomenal $531 million to become the No. 2 theatrical release ever, after 1997's " Titanic " (unadjusted for inflation).

The studio thus easily copped distributor bragging rights with an industry-record $1.79 billion year, representing an 18.3% market share. Warners ' other big releases included two successful adaptations of TV shows -- " Sex and the City " ($153 million) and " Get Smart " ($130 million).

The studio's theatrical performance was enhanced by the midyear takeover of its ailing corporate sibling New Line Cinema , which produced "Sex and the City." Yet Warners would have enjoyed an even heftier box office haul if it hadn't postponed the release of " Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince " from November to July.

Paramount, which took top domestic honors in '07, finished in second place on the year with $1.60 billion and a 16.4% share. The studio had the second-biggest domestic grosser with the Marvel Studios -produced "Iron Man," which registered $318.3 million domestically.

In addition to the iron-clad success of that Robert Downey Jr . starrer, Paramount also saw outsized tallies from " Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull " ($317 million). the year is off to a good start with " The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ," which has registered $79 million in its first 11 days.

Sony was the year's No. 3 finisher with $1.28 billion and a 13.1% share, fielding a slate topped by "Hancock" ($228 million).

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

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