A GOOD YEAR AT THE BOX OFFICE, BUT TICKET SALES WERE DOWN AGAIN

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 12, 1993                   TAG: 9303120151
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOHN HORN ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES                                LENGTH: Medium
A GOOD YEAR AT THE BOX OFFICE, BUT TICKET SALES WERE DOWN AGAIN
The 1992 movie season was the third highest-grossing in history, but ticket sales also declined for the third straight year, the Motion Picture Association of America reported Tuesday.
Year-end receipts totaled $4.87 billion, trailing only 1989 and 1990, MPAA President Jack Valenti said in a Las Vegas address to theater owners. But the 1992 figures were boosted by the costliest ticket prices ever, an average of $5.05 nationally.
"We have to increase the theater audience - we just have to do it," Valenti said in a telephone interview.
He said he expected movie makers would try to increase their family audience by producing pictures with "less violence, less sensuality and less [raunchy] language."
Ticket sales fell almost 2 percent from a year ago, to 964.2 million. In 1989, the best year at the box office, 1.132 billion tickets were sold for a total gross of $5.03 billion. In 1990, 1.056 billion tickets were sold for a total gross of $5.02 billion.
Valenti said the industry must control costs and theater owners must make the movie-going experience, comfortable, affordable and safe.
"A lot of people don't go to the movies for safety reasons," he said.
Regarding cost, he said, "I do believe that when you get into $7 tickets, a baby sitter, popcorn, soda and parking, that's a pretty good investment for a night."
Valenti noted that admissions have fallen only 5.6 percent from 12 years ago, when home video was still in its infancy. The VCR and rented videocassettes were supposed to destroy theater business but have failed to do so, he said.
Home video has actually doubled the overall audience for feature films, Valenti said. Last year retail video stores reported an estimated 4.5 million rentals and sales of about 386 million prerecorded videocassettes.
The average cost of producing and distributing a studio film increased 5 percent from a year ago to $40 million. That figure includes production costs of $28.8 million per movie and more than $11 million for prints and advertising.
Only 36 of the 431 movies released last year - 8.3 percent - brought their makers more than $20 million in net proceeds.
"Only two out of 10 movies ever get their money back in theaters," Valenti said.
When factoring in foreign markets and home video and television, four of 10 make money.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB