Hollywood coasted through the final weekend of the year, concluding the second-worst year since 1996.
Studios sold 1.35 billion movie tickets in 2010, according to a study by Hollywood.com released Sunday.
While inflation and pricey 3-D tickets drove revenues above $10 billion for only the second time, the number of tickets sold was the lowest since 1996, when 1.33 billion moviegoers clicked through turnstiles.
Back then, a movie cost $4.42 a ticket.
That cost leaped from an average of $7.46 a ticket in 2009 to $7.85 last year, the largest single-year spike on record.
Attendance saw a drop of 5.4% last year compared with 2009, the largest drop since attendance fell 8.1% in 2005, according to Hollywood.com.
Full story: Hollywood finishes dismal box-office year