The Hollywood Reporter explains in clear and concise detail how "the slump" affected overall box office numbers in 2005. Bottom Line? Domestic tallies were down 6% from 2004, which just goes to show how moviegoers feel about cell-phone chatters, non-stop commercials, rising ticket prices, and nine-dollar tubs of popcorn. (Oh, and Hollywood should start making better movies.)
"Putting an official number on the declines that depressed both the domestic and international boxoffice in 2005, the MPAA reported Thursday that the U.S. boxoffice dropped 6% to $8.99 billion last year, while the worldwide boxoffice wilted 7.9% from an all-time high of $25.23 billion in 2004 to $23.24 billion. Within the U.S., the dip in admissions was even steeper — from a recent high of 1.64 billion in 2002, admissions fell to 1.54 billion in 2004 and to 1.4 billion last year, a 8.7% skid between 2004 and 2005. At the same time, the average ticket price increased 3.2%, from $6.21 in 2004 to $6.41. Preferring to view the situation as a glass half full, though, the MPAA said domestic boxoffice has remained just at or above the $9 billion level — a benchmark it first topped in 2002 — for four consecutive years."
