“The Hobbit” The Battle of the Five Armies” held off the horror movie “The Woman in Black: The Angel of Death” at the box office Friday and seized the inside track for its third consecutive weekend win.
The final film in Peter Jackson’s “Hobbit” trilogy took in $8.3 million on Friday and is heading for a $22 million haul this weekend. Universal’s “Unbroken” and Disney’s “Into the Woods” weren’t far behind with around $7.4 million each, and both should come in at around $19 million for the three days.
“The Woman in Black: The Angel of Death” was second Friday with $7.7 million (including $1.5 million from Thursday shows), and will likely finish its opening weekend with around $16 million.
That’s under the $20.9 million that the first “Women in Black” film debuted with on Super Bowl Sunday in 2012, but the solid first weekend assures that it will be a financial win for Relativity. It acquired the sequel, which features newcomer Jeremy Irvine stepping in for the CBS Films original’s Daniel Radcliffe as star, for $1 million earlier this year.
“Hobbit” movies have dominated the holiday box office for the past three years and rolled up more than $2.6 billion globally for distributor Warner Bros.
Friday’s haul raises the domestic total for “Battle of Five Armies” to $207 million since opening on Dec. 17 and its worldwide haul is well past $670 million. The New Line–MGM coproduction is pacing ahead of the two earlier films in the series, “An Unexpected Journey,” which totaled $303 million domestically in 2012, and last year’s “The Desolation of Smaug,” which hit $258 million in North America.
The holiday box office continued to percolate and is running about 15 percent ahead of last year’s New Year’s weekend. And despite the dominance of “The Hobbit,” several holdover films are cashing in over the holidays.
By Sunday, Disney’s Broadway musical adaptation “Into the Woods” and the Angelina Jolie–directed Louis Zamperini biopic “Unbroken” will both have totaled around $90 million domestically since opening on Christmas Day. And Fox’s “Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb” is right there with those two and also will hit $90 million this weekend. The family film brought in $5.9 million Friday and should come in at around$15 million for the three days.
The Weinstein Company’s “The Imitation Game” and Lionsgate’s long-playing “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1” will finish the weekend with around $8 million after both took in just under $3 million Friday.
On that pace, the TWC awards hopeful will top $31 million domestically in its sixth week, while the Jennifer Lawrence sci-fi epic will cross $320 million in North America and is bearing down on $700 million globally in its seventh week.
The Mark Wahlberg crime drama “The Gambler” was ninth on Friday with $2.5 million, which projects to a $6.6 million second weekend. That would up its domestic total to $30 million for Paramount.
Reese Witherspoon’s “Wild” continued to expand strongly its fifth week. Fox Searchlight added 76 locations Friday and the survival saga brought in $1.7 million. It should finish with around $4.7 million over the three days, which will lift its domestic haul to roughly $26 million.
SAG Awards 2015: The Nominees (Photos)
Outstanding Performance Male Actor – TV Movie or Miniseries: Adrien Brody, "Houdini"; Benedict Cumberbatch (pictured), "Sherlock: His Last Vow"; Richard Jenkins, "Olive Kitteridge"; Mark Ruffalo, "The Normal Heart,"; Billy Bob Thornton, "Fargo"
Outstanding Performance Female Actor – TV Movie or Miniseries: Ellen Burstyn, "Flowers in the Attic"; Maggie Gyllenhaal, "The Honorable Woman"; Frances McDormand, "Olive Kitteridge"; Julia Roberts (pictured), "The Normal Heart"; Cicely Tyson, "The Trip to Bountiful"
Outstanding Performance Male Actor – Comedy Series (TV): Ty Burrell, "Modern Family"; Louis C.K. (pictured), "Louis"; William H. Macy, "Shameless"; Jim Parsons, "The Big Bang Theory"; Eric Stonestreet, "Modern Family"
Outstanding Performance Female Actor – Comedy Series (TV): Uzo Aduba, "Orange Is the New Black"; Julie Bowen, "Modern Family"; Edie Falco, "Nurse Jackie"; Julia Louis-Dreyfus, "Veep"; Amy Poehler (pictured), "Parks and Recreation"
Ensemble Comedy Series – TV: "The Big Bang Theory," "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," "Modern Family," "Orange Is the New Black" (pictured), "VEEP"
Female Actor – Drama Series, TV: Claire Danes, "Homeland"; Viola Davis (pictured), "How to Get Away with Murder"; Julianna Margulies, "The Good Wife"; Tatiana Maslany, "Orphan Black"; Maggie Smith, "Downton Abbey"; Robin Wright, "House of Cards"
Male Actor – Drama Series, TV: Steve Buscemi, "Boardwalk Empire"; Peter Dinklage, "Game of Thrones"; Woody Harrelson, "True Detective"; Matthew McConaughey (pictured), "True Detective"; Kevin Spacey, "House of Cards"
Ensemble – Drama Series, TV: "Boardwalk Empire," "Downton Abbey," "Game of Thrones" (pictured), "Homeland," “House of Cards”
Male Actor, Supporting Role – Film: Robert Duvall, "The Judge";Ethan Hawke, "Boyhood"; Edward Norton, "Birdman"; Mark Ruffalo, "Foxcatcher"; J.K. Simmons (pictured), "Whiplash"
Female Actor, Supporting Role – Film: Patricia Arquette, "Boyhood"; Keira Knightley, "The Immitation Game"; Emma Stone (pictured), "Birdman"; Meryl Streep, "Into the Woods"; Naomi Watts, "St. Vincent"
Male Actor, Leading Role – Film: Steve Carell (pictured), "Foxcatcher"; Benedict Cumberbatch, "The Immitation Game"; Jake Gyllenhaal, "Nightcrawler"; Michael Keaton, "Birdman"; Eddie Redmayne, "The Theory of Everything"
Female Actor, Leading Role – Film: Jennifer Aniston (pictured), "Cake"; Felicity Jones, "The Theory of Everything"; Julianne Moore, "Still Alice"; Rosamund Pike, "Gone Girl"; Reese Witherspoon, "Wild"
Cast – Film: “Birdman," “Boyhood" (pictured), “The Grand Budapest Hotel," "The Imitation Game," "The Theory of Everything"
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series: "24: Live Another Day," "Boardwalk Empire," "Game of Thrones," "Homeland," "Sons of Anarchy," "The Walking Dead" (pictured)
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture "Fury" (pictured), "Get On Up," "The Hobbit: The Battles of the Five Armies," "Unbroken," "X-Men: Days of Future Past"
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The nominees for the 21st annual Screen Actors Guild Awards were announced Wednesday morning on TBS by Eva Longoria and Ansel Elgort
Outstanding Performance Male Actor – TV Movie or Miniseries: Adrien Brody, "Houdini"; Benedict Cumberbatch (pictured), "Sherlock: His Last Vow"; Richard Jenkins, "Olive Kitteridge"; Mark Ruffalo, "The Normal Heart,"; Billy Bob Thornton, "Fargo"