"Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol" closed out the year with a bang at the domestic box office, but movie-theater attendance in 2011 slipped to a 16-year low, according to Hollywood.com.

In total, Hollywood films sold 1.3 billion tickets in North America last year, grossing $10.2 billion, down 3.4% from their 2010 box-office gross of $10.6 billion.

One...