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North American box office up 3.5 percent in 2006
2007-01-04
Movie "Superman Returns" poster |
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North American box-office receipts increased by 3.5 percent last year, buoyed by a string of surprise hits, movie trade press reported. According to figures in industry daily Variety, box-office earnings finished at 9.13 billion dollars in 2006, a significant increase on the disappointment of 2005, when takings plunged to 8.83 billion. The increase did not propel box-office takings past the stellar figures of 2004, a year when the release of several blockbusters including "Spiderman 2," "Shrek 2" and "The Passion of the Christ" pushed earnings to 9.21 billion. Internationally, Hollywood studios posted bumper receipts in 2006, at 8.6 billion dollars, 100 million dollars better than 2005. "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," the second in a series, reigned at the North American box-office last year, earning 423 million dollars. It was followed by animated children's flick "Cars" (244 million) and the third film in the "X-Men" series, "X-Men: The Last Stand" at 234 million. The big-screen adaptation of Dan Brown's best-selling "The Da Vinci Code" finished fourth with 217 million dollars in North America while "Superman Returns" brought in 200 million. Variety said the increases were driven by better-than-expected performances of a string of medium-budget pictures, including "The Devil Wears Prada," starring Meryl Streep, and smash-hit fake documentary "Borat." Both films earned 125 million dollars at the box office but were only made for 35 million dollars and 18 million dollars, respectively. Another high-earner was the offbeat comedy "Little Miss Sunshine," which earned around 60 million dollars -- close to nine times its budget.
Early summer movies underperform at box office (2007-05-28)'Pirates' has $43 million opening day (2007-05-26)North American box office up 3.5 percent in 2006 (2007-01-04)Fox studio reports $3.56 billion box office in 2006 (2007-01-04)"Pirates" sequel buoyed box office in 2006 (2007-01-03)
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