Europe Loves Cinema

This week The Hollywood Reporter offered information from a confidential MPA report sent to executives of the six major studios in Hollywood about the extent of the revenue stream from foreign box office and rentals of films.

The U.K. [which includes Ireland's sales] stood as the biggest consumer of U.S. movies for the seventh straight year in 2007, sending back $499 million in rental revenue to the Hollywood studios, 10% more than in 2006.

Altogether, the six U.S. majors brought home a record $4.5 billion in '07, with No. 2 Japan accounting for $396 million, up 2.9% year-to-year; No. 3 Germany, $384 million, up 15.8%; No. 4 Canada, $342 million, up 2%; and No. 5 Spain, $304 million, up 4.9%.

The U.K. has been the market leader since 2002, when it unseated Japan, which vied with Germany as the prime buyer of U.S. product in the preceding decade.

The overseas take of the Studios' films accounts for about 45%-47% of total grosses. Europe, based on the MPA stats, represented 53% of total international theatrical revenue. This means that for American films to be commercially successful they need to appeal and sell to international markets.