Having too few Hollywood releases to lure them away from their living rooms, Canadians turned sour on the local multiplex in 2005, according to Statistics Canada.

In its latest survey of cinemas, drive-ins and festivals, StatsCan says cinema attendance in 2005, the last year analyzed, slid to just under 105.2 million tickets sold, down 7.8% from 2004.

The government statistics agency put the sharp decline down to few box office hits in summer 2005, growing competition from home entertainment systems and higher tickets prices.

Exhibitors, led by Cineplex Entertainment, felt the attendance drop in the pocket book. The sector’s total operating profit came to $29 million, or an operating profit margin of 2.5%, down sharply from $110 million or an operating profit margin of 8.9% in 2004.

That performance came on total operating revenues in 2005 reaching $1.2 billion, off 5.3% from 2004. In all, the average Canadian made 3.2 visits to the local multiplex in 2005, with Albertans proving the biggest cinema-goers, attending 5.2 times on average.

‘This keen interest in Alberta may be the result of high per capita income and a younger population,’ StatsCan says.

Mercifully for domestic exhibitors, cinema attendance here has rebounded during the last two years, buoyed by more appealing Hollywood releases.

Cineplex CEO Ellis Jacob on Friday said the industry was experiencing ‘a good summer of films,’ led by big numbers for Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix and Transformers.

Cineplex, which currently has a 67% share of the Canadian market, says attendance at its theaters rose 5% during the three months to June 30, compared with 2006 levels.