Hollywood enjoys record year

Shrek was one of the biggest hits of the year

Hollywood film studios are celebrating a record year at the box office.

Movie-ticket sales for 2001 totalled $8.35 billion (£5.7 billion) by the end of New Year's Eve, up from last year's record of $7.7 billion (£5.2 billion), according to a Los Angeles box office tracker.

Exhibitor Relations said admission numbers had increased, as well as the average price of a cinema ticket, spelling a bumper year at the box office.

A record five films topped the $200m (£137m) mark: Harry Potter, Shrek, Monsters, Inc., Rush Hour 2 and The Mummy Returns.

Lord of the Rings should top $200m soon

The Lord of the Rings looks set to pass that mark soon.

Exhibitors president Paul Dergarabedian said most of the summer's big blockbusters did not have staying power.

Movies such as Planet of the Apes, Pearl Harbor and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider opened huge, then nose-dived as grosses fell by 50% or more in subsequent weekends.

Dergarabedian said: "People went to see things opening weekend, then migrated to the next big movie.

"But regardless of how big those drops were, movies were making money so fast they were still big blockbusters.

"It's not a marathon to $200m anymore. It's now a sprint."

2001's top 10

1. Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone

2. Shrek

3. Monsters Inc

4. Rush Hour 2

5. The Mummy Returns

6. Pearl Harbor

7. Jurassic Park III

8. Planet Of The Apes

9. The Fellowship of the Ring

10. Hannibal

Movie bosses feared the 11 September attacks would seriously dent the public's appeal for violent movies.

Many movies with terrorist themes such as Arnold Schwarzenegger's Collateral Damage had to be moved or edited.

But in the months since then, violent movies such as Denzel Washington's Training Day and Michael Douglas' Don't Say a Word performed well at the box office.

Head of distribution for Universal, Nikki Rocco, said: "For a while there, you had to be concerned.

"You had to sit back and ask, 'Is this appropriate?', because everybody's very depressed and we're at war. I think we've found everybody made the right decisions."

Studio bosses are hoping that 2002 continues the record breaking trend.

The year is full of money-making sequels including follow-ups to Lord of the Rings, Austin Powers, James Bond, Harry Potter, Star Trek and Men In Black.