American cinema attendance drops 5%

The number of Americans who went to the cinema in 2010 was around 5% lower than in 2009, a recent report shows.

Hollywood.com box office analysts forecast that 1.35 billion cinema tickets would be sold by the end of last year, a figure down from the 1.42 billion sold in 2009.

The drop in attendance makes it the biggest year-on-year drop since 2005, and gives 2010 the title of second-lowest attended year of the decade.

Revenues, however, stayed constant at $10.6bn due to increased ticket prices.

The highest-grossing film of the year in the US was Toy Story 3, which earned $415m.

The third instalment featuring Woody, Buzz, and friends was part of the wildly successful 3D trend in US cinema, with second highest-grossing film Alice in Wonderland
Higher ticket prices are attributed to the film industry's stablised revenues, according to Paul Dergarabedian of Hollywood.com.

"Without that we'd be looking at revenues that may not even have surpassed $10bn (£6.5bn)," he said.

The third-highest grossing movie overall, action sequel Iron Man 2, was also the most successful film screened in standard 2D.

Analysts predict that audience figures in the US and Canada will rise in 2011, with the release of the highly-anticipated sequels to The Hangover and Pirates of the Caribbean lifting expectations.