Final
'Hobbit' film draws holiday season crowds at box office
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[December 22, 2014]
By Lisa Richwine and
Chris Michaud
LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK
(Reuters) - The last movie of Peter Jackson's three
"Hobbit" films rode to the top of U.S. and Canadian
weekend box office charts, selling an estimated $56.2
million worth of tickets and boosting the holiday movie
season that is crucial to Hollywood.
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"The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" grabbed another
$34.4 million from Wednesday and Thursday screenings for a
combined debut of $90.6 million over its first five days,
distributor Warner Bros. said on Sunday.
"Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb," featuring the final
on-screen performance by the late Robin Williams, finished
second at domestic theaters with $17.3 million from Friday
through Sunday, according to tracking firm Rentrak's estimates.
Third place for the weekend before Christmas went to the musical
remake "Annie", which had been stolen by hackers who attacked
the Sony movie studio's computer network and placed on online
piracy sites three weeks ago. "Annie" earned $16.3 million at
domestic theaters.
"The Hobbit" stars Martin Freeman in the story based on the
classic fantasy novel by J.R.R. Tolkien.
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"Night at the Museum", the third in the series about exhibits
that come to life, features Ben Stiller as a nighttime security
guard and Williams as Teddy Roosevelt.
"This is an incredible result, and a nice distraction from
everything that's been going on for the past couple of weeks, to
have this enormous success going into the holiday season," said
Jeff Goldstein, executive vice president of domestic
distribution for Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc.
Warner Bros.' New Line Cinema and MGM produced the film, which
Goldstein said took in about $10 million more over five days
than the studio had expected.
"Night at the Museum" added $10.8 from foreign showings.
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Quvenzhane Wallis plays the title character in "Annie", a
contemporary remake of the 1977 Broadway musical about an orphaned
girl.
Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution for Sony's movie
studio, said the hackers' release of the film "certainly doesn't
seem like it hurt (box office performance), as we did so well."
Biblical epic "Exodus: Gods and Kings" finished fourth for the
weekend with $8.1 million. "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1"
took the No. 5 spot with $7.8 million.
"Night at the Museum" and "Exodus" were released by 20th Century
Fox, a unit of 21st Century Fox. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp
distributed "Mockingjay".
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine and Chris Michaud, editing by David
Evans)
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