December 25, 2012 by Vinnie Leduc
Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey continued to rule them all at the domestic box office over the pre-Christmas weekend. However, despite setting a December record in its debut the previous weekend and being offered in weird-as-hell HFR (high frame rate), IMAX, 3D, or a combination of all those formats, the first movie of a new prequel trilogy to his Oscar-winning blockbuster The Lord of the Rings trilogy still trails The Two Towers and The Return of the King by about $20 million and $40 million, respectively, at this point in its theatrical run.
The extended reign by The Hobbit was bad news for a sackful of new releases that mostly disappointed. Tom Cruise action thriller Jack Reacher opened at second place, and Judd Apatow comedy This is 40 debuted in third. DreamWorks Animation’s 3D CGI family flick Rise of the Guardians couldn’t hold onto the silver spot after steadily climbing up the charts for the past few weeks. It fell to fourth place, again just ahead of Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-buzzy biopic Lincoln. This left newcomers Seth Rogan and Barbara Streisand comedy The Guilt Trip and the 3D re-release of Disney’s Monsters, Inc. out of the top five, which you can check out below via BOM. Finally, Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away couldn’t crack the top ten, opening at 11th .
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey — Weekend Gross: $36.9 million — Total Gross: $150.1 million (#1 last week)
- Jack Reacher — Weekend Gross: $15.6 million — Total Gross: $15.6 million (new)
- This is 40 — Weekend Gross: $12.0 million — Total Gross: $12.0 million (new)
- Rise of the Guardians — Weekend Gross: $5.9 million — Total Gross: $79.7 million (#2 last week)
- Lincoln — Weekend Gross: $5.5 million — Total Gross: $116.7 million (#3 last week)
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