Around this time last year there were many hands being wrung over the slightly worrying downturn in box office receipts around the world (except for in the UK, which was slightly up on the previous year). People had had enough of going out to see movies and instead would sit at home and wait for them to be beamed directly into their eyeballs, it was said. Lies! Those same hands remain unwrung this year as not only has the US seen a 3.4% rise on 2005, but the international market has had its best year in the history of ever.
The very wide calculator used in the US showed final takings of a massive $9.13 billion, up from 2005's $8.83 billion. Sony took the largest share of the market with $1.69 billion, thanks to massive numbers for The Da Vinci Code and excellent results for Casino Royale and Talladega Nights. Disney was close behind with $1.47 billion, care of Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and Cars. Fox (X-Men 3) took bronze, Warner Bros (Happy Feet) stumbled in fourth and just missed out on the medals; Paramount, Universal, New Line, Lionsgate, The Weinstein Company and Focus Features also ran, but not placing near the top meant the media ignored them, but they may eventually crop up on Celebrity Big Brother.
Outside America - yes, Americans, there is a whole world outside America - it was an even better story. Figures were up 9% on 2005 and set a new record of $8.6 billion, which is around what George Lucas has made since you started reading this story. The numbers were greatly helped by the massive success of Pirates 2 ($642million) and The Da Vinci Code ($539 million).
And that, ladies and gentlemen, was an awful lot of numbers.