Sept. 11 didn't hurt 2001 theater receipts

Associated Press

Even after the Sept. 11 terrorists attacks, and with the country in a recession, movie admissions for 2001 were the highest since 1959.

"A lot of people thought that after Sept. 11, the movie industry would go into the tank. ... But for some strange — and to me, not bizarre — reason, the opposite happened," said Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America.

Admissions last year were 1.5 billion, a 5 percent increase from the previous year and a 30 percent increase from 1991, according to the motion picture industry's key trade group.

Frequent moviegoers and family-friendly films helped drive ticket sales even though the number of movie screens continued to decrease, Valenti said during an annual convention for theater operators meeting last week.

Frequent moviegoers — those who see at least 12 films a year — accounted for 82 percent of all admissions, he said.

The number of theater screens, which peaked at almost 38,000 in the middle of 2000, fell to 35,459 by the end of 2001, said John Fithian, head of the National Association of Theatre Owners.

"This is a worldwide phenomenon for us, where admissions are going up during a time of economic challenge," he said.

Valenti called last year the "greatest box-office year in film history," with total receipts of $8.41 billion.

A record 20 films reached the $100 million mark, with five reaching $200 million, including "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring."

Of those five, none had an R rating, proof that people want more family-oriented films, Fithian said. Of the top 20 films, only three were rated R.

Fithian also said that after Sept. 11, there was speculation that movies needed to be less violent.

"It didn't take long to realize we didn't need to make any changes at all. Our film buyers are buying just like they did before Sept. 11."