According a statement from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), global box office takings increased in 2009 to a staggering $29.9 billion – and Transformers Revenge of the Fallen was a key player in that rise.

The Motion Picture Association of America stated that the Transformers sequel was the highest grossing film of the year in the US and Canada, which helped box office takings inside the US increase by 10.1% to $10.6 billion, which is an all time high.

Box office takings outside of North America increased by 6.3% to $19.3 billion.

As well as Transformers Revenge of the Fallen, the highest grossing film of 2009 in North America, 3D movies also played a big part in the increased box office gross – led of course by Avatar. The reason 3D films play such a significant role is that they are more expensive to see at the cinema.

Bob Pisano, from the MPAA, stated:

Digital presentation and 3-D hold the promise of a dramatic game change in moviemaking and movie-going.

It’s also worth noting that while 2009 was the best year ever for box office gross in the US and Canada, it also saw fewer films released than in 2008 – just 558 movies, a drop of 12%. This was the first time that movie output dropped since 2003.

Transformers Revenge of the Fallen grossed $402 million in the US and Canada in 2009. If you’re thinking that Avatar made much more than that – it did, but not in 2009’s figures. Avatar only made $283.6 million in North America last year – the rest of Avatar’s world record breaking gross came in 2010.