LOS ANGELES, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Box-office revenue is up 7.5 percent this year in the United States and Canada despite sharp drops in consumer spending resulting from the recession, it was announced on Monday.

    To date, film revenue stands at 9.789 billion U.S. dollars, compared to 9.106 billion dollars at this time last year, according to Hollywood.Com Box-Office, a film industry tracking firm.

    The figures indicate that this year's box-office revenue is likely to top 10 billion dollars, which would represent a record.

    The increase isn't being driven by rising ticket prices alone but also by attendance, which is up 4.5 percent over 2008, according to the firm.