LOS ANGELES — Hollywood's six major studios say they broke overseas box office records in 2008, with an estimated $9.9 billion in tickets sold.

That's a 4 percent increase from a year earlier, The Hollywood Reporter said Friday.

Each of the six majors — Paramount, Warner Bros., Universal, 20th Century Fox, Sony and Disney — collected more than $1 billion for the second year running.

How much each collected depends on whether films were co-financed, how international rights deals were cut and how much went to theater owners.

Paramount Pictures led the pack with international releases grossing $2 billion, up 28 percent, while Warner Bros.' movies grossed $1.8 billion.

Universal grossed $1.7 billion, up 66 percent from a year ago.