World-wide box office revenue down in '05

LAS VEGAS - World-wide box office revenues fell by 9 per cent in 2005 but the industry expects better results this year, Motion Picture Association of America Chief Executive Dan Glickman said yesterday.

A bumper crop of sequels to past blockbusters and animated films hit screens this year in a good sign for ticket sales, Glickman told the ShoWest conference for movie theatres.

Most of the drop in international box office last year came in key markets such as Germany, Japan, Spain, France and Italy. Only four films grossed more than US$300 million (NZ$467m) outside the United States, compared with seven the year before, he said.

Forecasts are for the international box office to grow by 12 per cent over the next five years, mainly as a result of markets such as Russia, Brazil, China and Vietnam, he said.

"The simple fact is that the international market is where the action is," Glickman said.

Taking a longer view, he pointed out that last year's box office decline came on the heels of a 24 per cent increase in ticket sales the year before, and growth of more than 50 per cent in the past decade.

Studios increasingly are debuting movies on the same day around the world not only to combat piracy "but because of a growing recognition that turning a premiere into a World-wide event builds excitement and drives traffic everywhere," he said.

Studios are also looking to use local talent in international markets to build their audiences in foreign countries, Glickman said.

Piracy remains an issue of immediate concern especially in China and Russia, where most good quality pirated copies of films originate and make their way around the world.

The MPAA was concerned about efforts in some European countries to decriminalise the illegal downloading of films.

Glickman called on theatre owners to tap local governments for support in enforcing laws against camcording, which he said accounts for 90 per cent of illegal copying of new releases.

"For all our efforts to combat it, we have yet to come up with a foolproof solution to the problem," Glickman said.

He announced that MPAA and National Association of Theatre Owners launched on Monday a website to teach theatre employees how to spot camcording pirates.

After his speech Glickman told Reuters that the 2006 box office should be buoyed by "tent pole" films such as "Mission: Impossible III", "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" and the dozen or so animated films such as Pixar Animation Studios Inc's "Cars."

- REUTERS