US box office figures show attendance slipped 9 per cent in 2005 while takings were down 6 per cent.

Ticket revenues amounted to $9bn (£5.2bn), while total attendance fell by 240m to 1.4bn people. Producers are worried their market is under threat from rising DVD sales.

The Motion Picture Association of America also announced the average cost of making a Hollywood film dropped by $2.5m (£1.44m), while the budget for marketing new movies was up by 5%.