Despite all the doom and gloom about piracy and alternative entertainment cutting into the revenue of the movie industry, the MPAA gleefully announced that they had a record year at both the US and global box office in 2007.

The US market reached the $9.6 billion mark, a 5.4% increase over 2006, while overseas box office reached the $26.6 billion mark, a 4.9% increase.

According to the stats provided by the MPAA, there were a nearly 50% increase in movies reaching the $100 million mark, while 11 movies went on to gross $200 million or more, nearly double 2006's figure.

From the press release,

"From the threat and eventual reality of a writer's strike to the global impact of film theft to concerns over the economy, the film industry faced significant challenges in 2007," [MPAA's Chairman and CEO] Glickman said. "But, ultimately, we got our Hollywood ending. Once again, diverse, quality films and the timeless allure of the movie house proved a winning combination with consumers around the world."

In other words, when revenue declines, it's piracy. It's the economy. It's [insert favorite scapegoat]. When it goes up, it's the quality and diversity of the movies.

Ars Technica has also written about this, and they have a nifty chart of the US BO from 2002-07.