THE popularity of The Da Vinci Code has helped to prompt a recovery in Hollywood’s fortunes, with box office takings reversing last year’s steep decline this year so far.

Gross box office to June 30 amounted to $4.42 billion (£2.4 billion) in the United States, which accounts for about half of all film-going worldwide, up 3.9 per cent on the equivalent period last year.

The recovery was underpinned by Sony Pictures’ The Da Vinci Code, which despite being panned by critics had the second biggest worldwide opening of any film in history, taking $231.8 million.

Since then, The Da Vinci Code’s worldwide box office has since hit $703.5 million, ranking it at number 22 on the all-time list, according to figures compiled by Box Office Mojo, although it remains one of the highest-grossing films not aimed at children.

However, the financial upturn remains modest. In 2005 a weak slate of releases helped to push takings in the United States down 6.2 per cent — the first year that the box office had declined since the early 1990s. This year’s recovery is still not enough to overhaul 2004, the record year; takings to June 30 are down 5.3 per cent on two years ago.

DVD sales growth has also stalled, with the studios assuming that growth in the $16 billion-a-year market in the US will ease to just 2 per cent, below the double-digit growth rates enjoyed until recently. A standards war over high definition formats, between rival consortiums led by Sony and Toshiba has also confused consumers.

Hollywood is in the midst of its crucial summer season, with key releases Cars, Pixar’s first animation to be released under Disney’s ownership, and Superman Returns, from Warner Brothers, out in cinemas, while Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, also from Disney, is due on Thursday.

The summer season, which runs from May to the beginning of September, accounts for roughly 40 per cent of US box office, although data from Nielsen EDI suggest that the rate of improvement in the year so far has slowed. Spring takings were 14 per cent ahead, but this summer’s gain is only 0.8 per cent so far.

Among the studios, Twentieth Century Fox, owned by News Corporation, parent company of The Times, is the leading studio, helped by the success of the animation Ice Age: The Meltdown and X-Men: The Last Stand. Disney will receive a boost from the Pirates of the Caribbean sequel — the original took $654 million three years ago.

However, Time Warner’s Warner Brothers, so often the leading studio — with hits such as The Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Harry Potter series — is lagging in fifth place, ahead only of the traditionally weak Paramount, part of Viacom.

FILM FACTS

Year-to-date gross

2006: $4.42 billion

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