James Fisher/Warner Bros Ian McKellen in “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.â€From its bulbous goblin king to its nearly three-hour running time to its budget - an estimated $400 million, including global marketing costs - everything about “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey†is supersized. The movie's box-office debut was no exception: “The Hobbit†(New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) took in a huge $84.8 million at North American theaters over the weekend to finish No. 1. (The film generated another $138.2 million overseas.)
Still, “The Hobbit,†which drew some bli stering reviews but received an A score from audiences in exit polls and was a strong performer at Imax theaters, failed by a whisker to set a record for the biggest December opening; that crown is still held by “I Am Legend,†which took in $85.7 million over its first three days in 2007, after adjusting for inflation.
DreamWorks Animation's “Rise of the Guardians†was second, selling $7.4 million in tickets, for a four-week total of $71.4 million, according to Hollywood.com, which compiles box-office data. Perhaps given a lift by its armload of Golden Globe nominations, Steven Spielberg's “Lincoln†(Disney) was a strong third, taking in about $7.2 million, for a six-week total of $107.9 million. “Skyfall†(Sony) placed fourth, taking in an estimated $7 million, for a six-week total of $272.4 million, while “Life of Pi†(20th Century Fox) was fifth, selling about $5.4 million in tickets, for a four-week total of $69.6 million.
