Gross box office in the EU member states reached a record high of $7.97bn (Euro6.27bn) in 2009, according to provisional data published today by European Audiovisual Observatory.

Gross box office in the EU member states reached a record high of $7.97bn (Euro6.27bn) in 2009, according to provisional data published today by European Audiovisual Observatory (EAO), in Strasbourg. Annual box office revenue in the EU was up 12% year-on-year, boosted by a 6% rise in cinema admissions to an estimated 981 million tickets sold, up from 925 million in 2008.

The EAO attributed a significant part of the rise to the increase in the number of big-budget 3D features from Hollywood, and the associated premium on ticket prices. Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs, Up and Avatar all made it into the top five films of the year in the EU, together accounting for 86 million tickets sales across the member states.

Germany, France and the UK led the way in increased admissions, with the markets seeing rises of 13.1%, 5.7% and 5.6%, respectively. The gross theatrical markets grew in 21 out of the 23 EU members, with only Latvia and Ireland recording a decline.

Market share for European productions reached a five-year low of 26.7%, down from 28.25 in 2008. French films were again the most successful films in the EU, despite their market share dropping from 12.1% in 2008 to 8.7% last year.

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