PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN - HOLLYWOOD REPORTS BUMPER SUMMER

HOLLYWOOD REPORTS BUMPER SUMMER

Hollywood studios have reported an exceptional summer with worldwide ticket sales crossing the $4 billion (£2 billion) mark and beating sales records set in 2004.

Trade magazine Variety reports that films performed extremely well, as earnings abroad from the six largest studios in the US were 20 per cent higher than last summer.

The film industry publication attributed the improved performances to the weaker dollar and cooler summer temperatures. It also said that earnings last summer had been affected by the 2006 football world cup, as audiences stayed home to watch their countries compete for the trophy.

This summer has seen a host of sequels to successful franchises such as Pirates of the Caribbean, Spiderman, Shrek, Harry Potter, Rush Hour, The Oceans 11 series, Die Hard, The Bourne series and the Fantastic Four, as studios hoped fans would flock to the big screen to watch their favourites return.

Variety said the five best-performers at the box office this year were: Pirates of the Carribbean: At World's End, Spiderman 3, Shrek the Third, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Transformers. The four sequels and the remake of a cartoon about alien robots grossed $2.64 billion (£1.308 billion).

Last summer's top earners, which included the Da Vinci Code, the second Pirates of the Caribbean film and sequels of X-Men, Mission Impossible and Superman, grossed $1.76 billion (£0.87 billion) in comparison to this year's total.

Paramount international president Andrew Cripps told Variety that he was initially apprehensive about the large number of sequels due for release in the holiday period

"There was huge concern at the beginning of the summer as to how the blockbuster sequels would pan out at the box office, but now we know and audiences have spoken with their wallets," he said.

A remake of horror film Halloween is currently on top at the US box office, with teen comedy Superbad in second place. New release Balls of Fury is third while The Bourne Ultimatum and Rush Hour 3 round off the top five films at the American box office this week.