(Corrects name of actor in fifth paragraph.)

Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Happy endings from “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” and Oscar winner “Slumdog Millionaire” are fueling a surge in ticket sales, providing studios and theater owners with a recession-era boost.

Attendance, which fell about 5 percent for all of 2008, climbed 21 percent this year through Feb. 22, according to researcher Media By Numbers. Box-office receipts are up 23 percent in the U.S. and Canada, lifted by $122 million from Sony Corp.’s slapstick “Blart” and $77.9 million from News Corp.’s “Slumdog,” about an orphan’s improbable rise from poverty in Mumbai.

The gap is projected to widen this weekend, as best picture- winner “Slumdog” expands to capitalize on eight Academy Awards, and Walt Disney Co.’s “Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience” makes its debut. Audiences are flocking to theaters in greater numbers to get a break from their financial problems, said Tom Sherak, a movie-marketing consultant.

“It’s the times,” said Sherak, co-founder of Revolution Consulting Services and former head of News Corp.’s domestic film unit. “You want to escape and forget about everything and have a good time.”

Four of the top five films released in 2009 are comedies, according to Media By Numbers. “Blart,” starring Kevin James as a Segway-riding security guard who thwarts bad guys at a New Jersey mall, spent two weeks in first place.

The romantic comedy “He’s Just Not That Into You,” from Time Warner Inc., is third with $72 million, followed by “Hotel for Dogs,” released by Viacom Inc.’s Paramount Pictures, and “Bride Wars,” from News Corp.’s Fox. The Fox action film “Taken” is second.

Life Story

A year ago, the top five films included only one comedy, News Corp.’s “27 Dresses.” The biggest movie from Jan. 1 through Feb. 25 was the horror film “Cloverfield,” about a giant creature that destroys Manhattan.

Including 2008 releases whose runs have continued into this year, a broader group of so-called feel-good movies including “Slumdog” have racked up $598 million in sales, versus $453 million in the same period a year earlier, according to Los Angeles-based Media By Numbers.

“Slumdog” has earned $101.9 million domestically since November. The film tells a young man’s life story in flashbacks through his appearance on the Indian version of the television game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” and subsequent detention by police. Director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Simon Beaufoy won Oscars. Fox Searchlight is expanding the movie by 699 theaters, or 31 percent, to 2,943 theaters this weekend, according to Box Office Mojo LLC.

Digital Funding

The larger audiences are lifting revenue for exhibitors. Regal Entertainment Group, the largest theater-chain owner, said last week that sales rose 19 percent in the fourth quarter. To date this year, industry box-office had climbed 15 percent, Chief Executive Michael Campbell said on a Feb. 19 conference call discussing the Knoxville, Tennessee-based company’s results.

Still, the credit crunch has delayed an industry effort to finance installation of digital projectors, potentially limiting the haul for major 3-D releases such as DreamWorks Animation SKG’s “Monsters vs. Aliens” next month, Disney Pixar’s “Up” in May and Fox’s “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs,” in July.

“It remains a question as to when the credit markets will ease enough to allow this transaction to be funded,” Campbell said on the call.

Studios are fighting a separate battle to maintain DVD sales as viewers shift toward watching shows online.

‘Jonas’ vs. ‘Madea’

This weekend, “Jonas Brothers” is projected to lead the box office, displacing “Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail,” the filmmaker’s latest comedy about a pistol-toting matriarch.

“Madea,” from Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., took in $41 million its opening weekend. It may drop to $18.5 million this week, according to Gitesh Pandya, editor of New York-based Box Office Guru LLC. He anticipates “Jonas Brothers,” opening in 1,271 3-D theaters, may reach $40 million.

Overall this year, News Corp. leads studio owners with ticket sales of $372 million, followed by New York-based Time Warner with $319 million. Last year, Time Warner finished in first place with $1.9 billion, including $531 million from “The Dark Knight.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Michael White in Los Angeles at mwhite@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: February 27, 2009 10:51 EST