Sam Worthington is shown in the 3D movie Avatar. Higher ticket prices for films such as Avatar helped boost the Canadian theatre box office in 2010. (20th Century Fox/Associated Press )

Operating revenues at Canadian cinemas climbed in 2010, a year that saw the advent of a new wave of 3D technology with films such as Avatar and Alice in Wonderland, according to figures from Statistics Canada.

While 3D films — especially the spectacularly successful Avatar — boosted ticket prices, the number of Canadians who actually went to the movies fell for the first time in five years.

Movie theatres sold 112.2 million tickets in 2010, down 1.9 per cent from 114.4 million in 2009. Statscan attributes the drop in attendance to higher ticket prices and an increasing number of entertainment alternatives.

Box-office revenues increased 4.2 per cent to $960.7 million in 2010, a year that included blockbuster releases such as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Inception and Shrek Forever After. Statscan estimated ticket prices rose by 6.2 per cent.

Concession revenues were up 2.2 per cent at $453.5 million. Total operating revenues in the motion picture theatre industry rose 2.8 per cent to $1.6 billion.

The four most populous provinces — Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia — accounted for 88 per cent of operating revenues.

Statistics Canada includes indoor theatres, drive-ins and film festivals in its study of motion picture theatres and sampled 170 different entities to estimate revenues.