The ComingSoon.net Box Office Report has been updated with studio estimates for the weekend. Click here for the full box office estimates of the top 12 films and then check back on Monday for the final figures based on actual box office.
New Line Cinema and MGM’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey kicked off the holiday season with an estimated $84.8 million, a new December opening weekend record, surpassing the $77.2 million earned by Will Smith-starrer I Am Legend the same weekend in 2007. The Peter Jackson film debuted in 4,045 theaters in which it averaged a strong $20,958 per location.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey received an A CinemaScore from moviegoers which should help with word-of-mouth through the holidays. 58% of the audience was over the ages of 25 and males made up 57% of the audience.
$10.1 million of the domestic total came from the 326 IMAX theaters the film opened in this weekend. That’s an average of $31,000 per screen. Internationally, the picture broke an IMAX December record grossing $5 million in 126 IMAX locations (an average of $40,000). The IMAX locations which showed the film in 48 fps were quite strong, generating $44,000 per screen domestically and $57,000 per screen internationally. IMAX’s global weekend total for “The Hobbit” is an estimated $15+ million, which is a record for December.
In North America, DreamWorks Animation’s Rise of the Guardians remained in second place with $7.4 million for a four-week total of $71.4 million. The animated family adventure cost about $145 million to make.
DreamWorks Pictures’ Lincoln climbed a spot to third with $7.2 million. The $65 million Steven Spielberg film has earned $107.9 million after six weeks in theaters.
Dropping from first place to fourth, Sony and MGM’s Skyfall added $7 million domestically for a total of $272.4 million after six weeks. Internationally, the 23rd James Bond film grossed an estimated $12.2 million this weekend, bringing the overseas total to $678.7 million. Worldwide, the film has earned $951 million to date.
Ang Lee’s Life of Pi rounded out the top five with $5.4 million its fourth weekend. The Twentieth Century Fox Film release has collected $69.6 million after four weeks.
Also, Summit’s The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 earned $45.2 million its fifth weekend for a domestic total of $276.9 million.
Click here for the full box office estimates of the top 12 films.
