The motion picture industry’s record-setting month at the box office may have cost it $246 million in tax breaks, as the Senate on Tuesday stripped a provision from the economic stimulus bill that critics derided as an unnecessary Hollywood bailout.

In denying the tax breaks on new film projects, senators cited the $1.03-billion haul from movie ticket sales in January, a 19 percent year-over-year increase, according to industry tracking firm Media by Numbers.

But movie studios actually share a portion of ticket sales with theater owners. And despite the box-office figures, the motion picture industry has suffered during the recession like other industries. Film financing has dried up as part of the credit crunch, and DVD sales, which had propped up studios’ profits for years, dropped 9 percent in 2008.

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