The appeal of 3-D movies helped boost movie ticket sales to a record $29.9 billion worldwide in 2009.

That's according to the Motion Picture Association of America.

The jump of nearly 8 percent was driven by a rise in ticket prices and the first increase in attendance in the U.S. and Canada in two years.

There were 20 movies released in 3-D last year, less than 4 percent of the total.

But they accounted for 11 percent of the $10.6 billion in ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada, representing almost all of the increase from a year ago.