Box Office: 'The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies' Rules With $90.6M Debut
Peter Jackson's six-film Middle Earth saga has come to a very successful conclusion, as The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies debuted with $90.6 million in North America, making it one of the best openings of 2014.
The film, which opened overseas roughly 12 days ago, dominated internationally, raking in $265 million since its debut. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is currently sitting pretty with a worldwide haul of 355.6 million in just under two weeks.
The movie can also boast the best debut of The Hobbit trilogy, although the openings aren't exactly comparable, if only because the first two films in the trilogy were released on Fridays, whereas The Battle of the Five Armies enjoyed a mid-week head-start in North America. An Unexpected Journey opened with $84.6 million in 2012, followed by The Desolation of Smaug, which debuted last year with $73.6 million.
Naturally, The Hobbit made it hard for any other new release to get a foothold this weekend, including long-hyped releases such as Annie and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb.
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb opened to a franchise low of just $17.3 million, while Golden Globe nominee Annie did even poorer with $16.3 million. Of course, there's every chance that the numbers might improve once The Hobbit craze dies down and families begin looking for other entertainment avenues for the holiday season. But with Disney's Into the Woods just on the horizon, it's looking like families won't be at a lack of movies to occupy their attention, making this a particularly crowded holiday season.
Both Annie and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb will need strong word-of-mouth to carry them into profitability, as Annie cost $65 million to make while Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb cost a staggering $127 million. One reason for Annie's low debut could be the Sony hacks, as the film was one of five released by the hacker group that U.S. officials eventually linked to North Korea. In such a packed holiday movie season, very ticket sale counts.
In other box office news, Exodus: Gods and Kings declined an ominous 66.6 percent this weekend to come in fourth place. This weekend's $8.1 million gross brings the film's domestic total to just $38.9 million, a major disappointment for what was being built as a tentpole epic. It would be easy to blame the competition such as The Hobbit, but it just seems like the enthusiasm for this film isn't there. At least not like it is for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1, which earned $7.8 million this weekend to bring its worldwide gross to $639.7 million.
Lastly, in a pair of a box office surprises, Reese Witherspoon's potential Oscar contender, Wild, climbed up the charts to No. 6 as it expanded nationwide this weekend. But that isn't nearly as noteworthy as the arrival of P.K., an Indian dramedy that came out of nowhere to break into the Top 10 with $3.46 million. The strange story centers on an alien named P.K., who gets stranded in Rajasthan after his spaceship's control device is taken. The movie is getting solid reviews, particularly for star Aamir Khan. Its sudden success in limited release could mean a wider distribution for the movie.
But what else landed in the Top 10 at the Box Office this weekend? Check out the full list below, and let us know what you saw, what you want to see, and what your thoughts are on the movies by hitting up the comments section!
Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures
TOP 10 AT THE BOX OFFICE - 12/21/2014
1. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies ($90.6 million)
2. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb ($17.3 million)
3. Annie ($16.3 million)
4. Exodus: Gods and Kings ($8.1 million)
5. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1 ($7.8 million)
6. Wild ($4.2 million)
7. Top Five ($3.57 million)
8. Big Hero 6 ($3.56 million)
9. Penguins of Madagascar ($3.5 million)
10. P.K. ($3.46 million)