Hollywood (eCanadaNow) - Hollywood is certainly not struggling, as global movie ticket sales broke a record in 2007, with over $9.6 billion in sales in the U.S. and Canada alone.

Even though movie attendance was down and film costs rose, the Motion Picture Association of America stated on Wednesday that studios took in $9.6 billion last year in the U.S. and Canada.

This is $300 million more than what was taken in a year ago.

Rising ticket prices helped boost the number, even though the attendance was about the same compared to a year ago.

In 2007, 1.4 billion movie tickets were sold, which is still below the record of 1.6 billion in 2002.

MPAA chief Dan Glickman stated that "Consumers are open to the digital home and the movie house.  All in all, 2007 proved pretty healthy."

The only downfall is that an average Hollywood film cost $106.6 million to produce in market in 2007, up $6 million from 2006.