‘The Hobbit’ Caps Holiday Blitz With 3rd Straight Box-Office Win
Peter Jackson’s franchise finale holds off “Into the Woods,” “Unbroken” and “Woman in Black 2” sequel with $22 million haul
Todd Cunningham | January 4, 2015 @ 7:46 AM
Last Updated: January 4, 2015 @ 11:05 AM
“The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” put a cap on its holiday box-office blitz, bringing in $22 million to capture its third consecutive weekend triumph.
The final film in Peter Jackson’s trilogy held off a challenge from the wide-opening horror sequel “The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death” and second-week holdovers “Into the Woods” and “Unbroken” to stay at No. 1. “Battle of the Five Armies” has taken in $220 million domestically since opening on Dec. 17 and, with a worldwide haul of $722 million, is heading for $1 billion at the global box office.
Disney’s Broadway musical adaptation was runner-up with $19 million over the three days and Universal’s Angelina Jolie-directed biopic about Louis Zamperini was third with $18.4 million. Relativity Studio’s “The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death” opened to a better-than-expected $15.1 million to claim third, and Fox’s “Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb” was fifth with$14.4 million.
“Battle of the Five Armies” has dominated this year’s holiday box office just as the previous two films in the franchise did, with all three winning three straight weekends. The New Line-MGM co-production is pacing ahead of the two earlier films, “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.
Why has “The Hobbit” been such a good fit for the holidays?
“‘I think it’s first and foremost a fun movie,” Jeffrey Goldstein, executive vice president of domestic distribution at Warner Bros. “There’s serious brand equity in Middle Earth, and Peter Jackson tells a great story, and the way he tells it provides a great experience for his core fans and broad audiences.”
With Bilbo Baggins and company leading the way, the holiday box office continued to percolate and will end up about 12 percent ahead of last year’s New Year’s weekend. While dominant, the unique appeal of the J.R.R. Tolkein-inspired “Hobbit” has left room in the market for several holdovers to thrive.
Christmas Day openers “Unbroken,” “Out of the Woods” and “Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb” have all taken in $90 million or close to it since their debuts. With moviegoers on vacation or out of school, those films all held well in their second weeks. “Unbroken” and “Into the Woods” fell just 40 percent from their first weekends and the “Night at the Museum” sequel was down just 27 percent.
Sony’s musical “Annie” also received a holiday boost. It was off just 28 percent and finished sixth with nearly $12 million over the three days, raising its domestic total to $73 million after three weeks.
The opening for “The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death” is under the $20.9 million that the first “Woman 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. The studio 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.
“This is a great way to start the year,” Kyle Davies, Relativity’s president of worldwide distribution, told TheWrap. “Holiday movies tend to skew toward families, and I think horror fans were ready to turn out.”
The last horror film in the marketplace was “Ouija,” which came out in October. There won’t be another until Feb. 27, when Relativity opens “The Lazarus Effect,” so “Angel of Death” could have a stronger shelf life than scary movies typically manage.
The audience was mainly young women, 53 percent female and 65 percent under the age of 25. African-Americans and Hispanics made up 25 and 24 percent of the crowd respectively. “The Angel of Death received a so-so “C” CinemaScore, but that’s in line with most horror films.
The Weinstein Company’s awards hopeful “The Imitation Game” continued to impress. It finished seventh with $7.7 million in its sixth week and did that playing in just 754 theaters. Its $10,855 per-screen average was the best of any film in wide release and upped the domestic haul for the historical drama starring Benedict Cumberbatch to $30.8 million.
Lionsgate’s long-playing “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1” was next with $7.7 million. The Jennifer Lawrence sci-fi blockbuster is up to $323 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 with $6.3 million in its second weekend, upping its domestic total to $27.5 million for Paramount.
Disney’s “Big Hero Six” beat Reese Witherspoon’s “Wild” for tenth. The Disney Animation kids film took in $4.8 million to raise its domestic total to $211 million after nine weeks in release.
15 Movies You Already Forgot About: TheWrap's Best & Worst 2014 (Photos)
"I, Frankenstein": Alternatively titled, "I, Forgot This Move Ever Existed," the modern take on Mary Shelley's horror icon is most memorable for being a bad idea star Aaron Eckhart probably already turned into a repressed memory.
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"The Monuments Men": What happens when director and star George Clooney recruits acting titans Bill Murray, Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, John Goodman and recent Best Actor Oscar winner Jean Dujardin to make a World War II drama? Critics write bad reviews, and the Nazis lose, or something. It's hard to remember more than that, since Clooney's BFF Brad Pitt put out a much better entry in the same genre eight months later.
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"Pompeii": This Carrie-Ann Moss and Kit Harington disaster flick about ancient Rome feels like ancient history, but it actually hit theaters in Feb. 2014. We're sure Sony Picture Entertainment would love for all traces of the seismic flop to be buried under a mountain of ash -- much like Pompeii was itself -- and permanently forgotten.
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"The Pyramid": This found-footage thriller was dead upon arrival when it opened wide on Dec. 12. Fortunately for first-time director Gregory Levasseur, he wrote the screenplays for "High Tension" and "The Hills Have Eyes" remake, which will hold a place in horror history for years to come.
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"Men, Women & Children": Director Jason Reitman earned rave reviews for "Thank You for Smoking," "Juno" and "Up in the Air." His latest effort, however, failed to impress critics. Even the trailer failed to impress viewers, because it only grossed $1.7 million worldwide.
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"The Legend of Hercules": Not one but two movies about legendary Greek mythology hero Hercules came out this year, but neither made much of a splash. Kellan Lutz never had a chance with "The Legend of Hercules," which had a January release, but maybe he can rest easy knowing that even Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's August "Hercules" came and went without anyone noticing.
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"Need for Speed": A popular video game franchise, cool car chase and Jesse Pinkman from "Breaking Bad" sure seemed like a recipe for success, but the video game adaptation failed to create much excitement amongst any of the various fan groups that DreamWorks and Disney were banking on.
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"Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit": Tom Clancy's famous literary spy Jack Ryan has been on screen so many times -- played by A-list leading men Harrison Ford, Alec Baldwin and Ben Affleck -- that a new iteration seemed inevitable. But then director Kenneth Branagh's reboot starring Chris Pine came and went without many people noticing. Expect another reboot before you see a sequel.
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"Blended": Third time was definitely not the charm for Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore. While the Warner Bros. comedy tripled its budget at the box office, it will only be remembered for being one of Sandler's worst comedies yet, providing audiences didn't immediately wipe it from their memory when they walked out of the theater.
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"Walk of Shame": Elizabeth Banks should actually be grateful that this movie has already escaped the minds of moviegoers, because the reviews weren't just bad -- they were atrocious.
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"Into the Storm": Who can forget that flying cow in "Twister"? The giant tidal wave crushing Téa Leoni in "Deep Impact"? Or Steven Tyler's vocals in "Armageddon"? Now who can remember the names of the actors that ventured "Into the Storm" for Warner Bros. last summer?
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"As Above, So Below": You can't tell from the title, but this is a found footage horror movie about people exploring the catacombs beneath the streets of Paris. And if you didn't know that, then you can probably also tell it didn't do very well in theaters.
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"Brick Mansions": People are too busy looking forward to seeing Paul Walker's final performance in "Furious 7" to remember his in the American remake of French action flick "District B13."
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"Before I Go to Sleep": This psychological thriller boasted a star-studded cast, including Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth and Mark Strong, yet it only made $15 million worldwide when released in October.
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Remember when Aaron Eckhart played Frankenstein’s monster? Neither do we
"I, Frankenstein": Alternatively titled, "I, Forgot This Move Ever Existed," the modern take on Mary Shelley's horror icon is most memorable for being a bad idea star Aaron Eckhart probably already turned into a repressed memory.