Tag: Box Office (81-90 of 876)

Dec 16 2012 01:22 PM ET

Box office report: 'The Hobbit' breaks December record with $84.8 million weekend

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Bilbo-Baggins

As expected, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, crushed the competition at the box office in its debut weekend, setting a new December record in the process.

The Middle-earth-set film grossed $84.8 million over its first three days, handily surpassing I Am Legend‘s $77.2 million bow, which has held the record for best December debut since 2007. The Hobbit earned that $84.8 million from 4,045 theaters, giving it a powerful $20,958 per theater average. Included in that theater count were 326 IMAX locations, which accounted for $10.1 million of the weekend gross, as well as 461 locations that showed the film in the controversial 48 frames per second rate — those screenings, thankfully, had no surcharge. About 49 percent of The Hobbit‘s weekend take came from 3-D showings.

All told, The Hobbit‘s debut weekend was obviously strong, but it must be said that it finished at the low end of pre-release expectations, most of which had the film earning more than $100 million in its debut frame. The Hobbit, the first in a trilogy produced by New Line and MGM (with Warner Bros. distributing) for a reported $600 million, earned $37.5 million on Friday, yet it only managed an internal multiplier (that’s weekend gross divided by Friday gross) of 2.25 — a very low number that signifies front-loaded performance. Judging by The Hobbit‘s 25 percent plummet on Saturday, it appears that the Tolkien faithful rushed out for the film early in the weekend. READ FULL STORY »

Dec 15 2012 01:06 PM ET

Box office update: 'The Hobbit' walks away with $37.5 million on Friday

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UNEXPECTED-JOURNEY

We already knew that The Hobbit earned a whopping $13.0 million during midnight showings, but over the course of its first full day in theaters the film took in an estimated $37.5 million, the highest gross ever for a December opening day.

The next best December bow was also of the Middle-earth variety – Lord of the Rings: Return of the King grossed $34.5 million on its opening day, a Wednesday, in 2003. Notably, The Hobbit sold fewer tickets on its opening day than Return of the King, but its gross was higher because of ticket price inflation and 3-D/IMAX surcharges. Still, huge is huge — and The Hobbit is headed for a mammoth debut. READ FULL STORY »

Dec 14 2012 01:35 PM ET

Box office update: 'The Hobbit' earns $13.0 million at midnight showings

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THE-HOBBIT

Warner Bros. has just announced that The Hobbit earned an estimated $13.0 million from midnight showings at 3,100 locations last night, giving it a per-theater average of $4,193 from midnight shows alone. It’s a nice recovery from the doldrums of the past two frames. When combined, the last two wide releases to hit theaters, Playing for Keeps and Killing Them Softly, couldn’t earn $13.0 million over their entire opening weekends. Included in The Hobbit‘s midnight figure is $1.6 million that the film earned from 326 IMAX theaters.

READ FULL STORY »

Dec 13 2012 09:22 PM ET

Box office preview: 'The Hobbit' will make a very expected journey to No. 1

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Bilbo-Baggins

After two dreadful weekends at the box office, Gandalf, Bilbo, and a whole motley crew of dwarves have come to the film industry’s rescue — and not even the dragon Smaug will be able to keep them from grabbing a whole lot of treasure.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first entry in a trilogy produced by Warner Bros. (and technically MGM as well) for a reported $600 million, arrives in theaters nine years after the original Lord of the Rings franchise concluded. Those three Lord of the Rings films opened over this same weekend in Dec. 2001, 2002 and 2003, grossing $47.2 million, $62.0 million, and $72.6 million in their respective debut weekends, and all three eventually earned over $300 million domestically. Because the series was so well-received from the very beginning, each subsequent release performed better than its predecessor, and the final entry, The Return of the King, topped out with $377 million domestically and $1.1 billion worldwide — not to mention an Academy Award for Best Picture.

After nearly a decade of waiting — during which the LOTR series was devoured voraciously on DVD — The Hobbit, based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s prequel to the LOTR series, is now poised to maintain the franchise’s box office vitality, at least on opening weekend. The Hobbit will almost certainly continue the trend of rising opening weekend grosses. The question is now how high it can climb. READ FULL STORY »

Dec 11 2012 05:36 PM ET

Why the James Bond franchise was made for the modern box office

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Image Credit: Francois Duhamel

Over the past weekend, Skyfall returned to the top of the box office and became the biggest hit in Sony Pictures’ history in the process. After five weekends, the Sam Mendes-directed action film had earned a franchise-high $261.8 million domestically. (For reference, the previous high-point was 2008′s Quantum of Solace, which grossed $168.4 million.)

It’s not often that a franchise this deep into its existence — 2012 marks the 50th anniversary of the British spy’s first appearance on the silver screen — peaks at the box office. And in all reality, it’s only half accurate to call Skyfall the “peak.” Its record-setting gross does not account for inflation. (The series’ all-time high point was actually 1965′s Thunderball, which, according to BoxOfficeMojo, grossed a staggering $593.9 million when adjusted for inflation.)

Still, even accounting for inflation, Skyfall is already the fourth-highest-grossing Bond film ever, and its excellent performance both domestically and around the world reveals that the franchise is experiencing a major upswing. With a running worldwide total of $918 million — by far the highest total ever for a Bond film (Quantum of Solace and Casino Royale both topped out at $594 million) — and an opening in China still slated for early 2013, prognosticators expect Skyfall to become the first-ever billion-dollar Bond film. James Bond may be getting older, but Skyfall makes it clear that he’s still a major force to be reckoned with at the box office.

Most franchises don’t enjoy such longevity. It’s much more common for film series to start with gargantuan grosses and then face diminishing returns with every subsequent release. And yet, the James Bond series suddenly seems to be hitting its stride right now. Why is that? Because since its inception in the 1960s, the Bond franchise has been primed for success in today’s modern market. It seems to have been almost preternaturally constructed to succeed in 2012. The box office just had to catch up with Bond’s ahead-of-the-curve sensibilities. Here’s what I mean: READ FULL STORY »

Dec 9 2012 02:04 PM ET

Box office report: 'Skyfall' returns to No. 1, becomes highest grossing film in Sony history; Gerard Butler's 'Playing for Keeps' flops

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Skyfall

Image Credit: Francois Duhamel

In the box-office lull before the arrival The Hobbit next weekend, Skyfall returned to the number-one spot at the box office, becoming the first film since How to Train Your Dragon to lead the chart in its fifth week. It also became the highest grossing Sony release of all time. Not too shabby, Mr. Bond.

Skyfall topped the domestic rankings with an estimated $11.0 million (down a slim 34 percent from last weekend), which brings its North American total to a stunning $261.1 million. It’s difficult to adequately express how incredible — and somewhat inexplicable — Skyfall‘s run has been. The former franchise high-point for the Bond series was Quantum of Solace, which grossed $168.4 million in 2008. Skyfall has obviously crushed that total, and it still has ample life left in its run. READ FULL STORY »

Dec 8 2012 01:06 PM ET

Box office update: 'Skyfall' earns $3.1 million on Friday, which, sadly, is enough for first place

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Image Credit: Francois Duhamel

For the third straight weekend, the same five movies will take up the top five spots on the chart, though there’s been a switch at the very top.

As expected, Skyfall ruled the roost on Friday, kicking off what is shaping up to be the slowest weekend at the box office since the recent sad September frame, when the industry faced the lowest grosses in over a decade. The James Bond film took in $3.1 million on Friday, putting it on pace for a $10.5 million weekend and a first-place ranking — a rather remarkable feat considering Skyfall is currently in its fifth weekend and has spent the last three as a runner-up to The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2. READ FULL STORY »

Dec 6 2012 05:10 PM ET

Box office preview: 'Skyfall' set to kick 'Playing for Keeps' to the curb

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PLAYING-FOR-KEEPS

Image Credit: Dale Robinette

As theater owners buckle down and stockpile the popcorn in preparation for The Hobbit opening on Dec. 14, it’s another quiet week at the box office, as the only new wide release is a critically reviled soccer mom rom-com (say that five times fast) called Playing for Keeps, which seems destined for box office flopdom.

Skyfall, a five-week-old movie that hasn’t been in the top spot for the last three weekends, has the best shot at reclaiming the No. 1 slot. However, we might see any of the top four films below in first place — it’s that close. Here’s how the weekend may play out.

1. Skyfall – $10.5 million

The James Bond picture, which has led the weekday box office over the past two days (and will pass $250 million domestically today), seems like the likeliest contender for No. 1. A 35 to 40 percent drop would give the action film an $10.5 million weekend. READ FULL STORY »

Dec 2 2012 02:18 PM ET

Box office report: Brad Pitt's 'Killing Them Softly' misfires with $7 million debut, 'F' CinemaScore

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The post-Thanksgiving frame has always been a slow one, and this year was no exception. Two new releases entered theaters — including the Brad Pitt vehicle Killing Them Softly — and both were met with unenthusiastic responses. Among holdovers, the Top 10 movies fell by an average of 51 percent. Basically, not too much happened at the box office this week. In fact, the top six movies finished in the exact same spots as last week.

Atop the chart was The Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn – Part 2, which dropped 60 percent to $17.4 million, lifting its total to $254.6 million after three weekends. The $120 million Summit sequel is holding substantially better than its predecessor, Breaking Dawn – Part 1, which had earned $246.9 million at the same point in its run before finishing with $281.3 million domestically. Internationally, the franchise finale is getting a gigantic boost. The film earned an additional $48.4 million this weekend, bringing its overseas gross to $447.8 million and its worldwide total to $702.4 million. It’s headed to a franchise-high finish around $800 million. READ FULL STORY »

Dec 1 2012 01:19 PM ET

Box office update: 'Breaking Dawn' leads Friday with $5.6M, 'Killing Them Softly' slapped with $2.5M and 'F' CinemaScore

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Image Credit: Andrew Cooper

Call it a turkey hangover. Friday grosses are (mostly) in, and, as expected, the box office is way down from the lucrative Thanksgiving frame.

The top of the chart looks just the same as it did last week. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 stayed in first place with $5.6 million, putting it on pace for a third weekend of $17 million, which would bring its total to $254 million. Skyfall and Lincoln were close behind, grossing $4.9 million and $4.0 million, respectively. Skyfall may walk away with about $16 million over the Friday-to-Sunday period, while Lincoln should earn about $14 million.

Life of Pi and Rise of the Guardians swapped the rankings they earned in their debuts last weekend — but they’ll likely switch again by the frame’s end. Life of Pi scored $3.3 million on Friday, and it may sail to $12 million by Sunday. Rise of the Guardians earned a bit less with $3.0 million, but thanks to strong family showings, the DreamWorks animation should reach about $13 million, which will bring its total to a discouraging $48 million.

1. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 – $5.6 million
2. Skyfall – $4.9 million
3. Lincoln – $4.0 million
4. Life of Pi – $3.3 million
5. Rise of the Guardians – $3.0 million

The Weinstein Co.’s Brad Pitt vehicle Killing Them Softly disappointed with just $2.5 million on its first day. The Andrew Dominik-directed crime drama will have to settle for about $7 million. Even more distressing is how poorly Killing is playing with moviegoers. The feature, which critics overwhelmingly like, earned an “F” CinemaScore — the same grade that audiences gave reviled found-footage entry The Devil Inside earlier this year.

Check back tomorrow for the full box office report, and follow me on Twitter for more box office musing.

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