Box office reaches new record, but international sales flat

NEW YORK -- The Motion Picture Association of America said Wednesday the worldwide box office reached a record $38.6 billion in 2016, though international revenues were stagnant.

The MPAA's annual report showed a global increase of 0.5 percent in ticket sales from 2015.

While China, the world's second-largest market after the U.S., long has been a priority of Hollywood, it dropped 3 percent last year, with $6.6 billion in ticket sales.

Box office in North America hit a record $11.4 billion, although the increase of $300 million was due largely to rising ticket prices. About 11 percent of North Americans, the MPAA said, are frequent moviegoers -- those who go to the theater at least once a month. They make up 48 percent of tickets sold.

Among the year's biggest box-office hits were "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," "Finding Dory" and "Captain America: Civil War," all of them released by the Walt Disney Co.

Other conclusions from the report include:

• Younger moviegoers increased. The biggest jump was for 18- to 24-year-olds, who went on average 6.5 times in 2016, up from 5.9 times in 2015.
• The appeal of 3-D continued to slide. Sales of 3-D movies fell about 8 percent to $1.6 billion, even though there were 30 percent more 3-D releases.
• African-American and Asian moviegoers continue to increase. Per capita, Asians/other ethnicities go more than any other group, seeing on average 6.1 movies a year.