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THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY Takes Estimated Worldwide $223 Million Opening Weekend; Grosses $15.1 Million in 452 IMAX Theaters – We Are Movie Geeks

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THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY Takes Estimated Worldwide $223 Million Opening Weekend; Grosses $15.1 Million in 452 IMAX Theaters

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Photo by Todd Eyre/Warner Bros. Pictures

THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY soared to the top of the global box office in a record-breaking opening, dominating the weekend with an estimated $84.775 million domestically and $138.2 million internationally, for a worldwide estimated total of $223 million. Domestically, the film broke records for largest December opening in motion picture history, including Christmas/holiday weekends. It is also the largest opening for any film in the canon of “The Lord of the Rings.”

IMAX also announced that Peter Jackson ‘s film grossed $15.1 million in 452 IMAX® theatres worldwide, which is an all-time best performance for an IMAX film in December. The Warner Bros. Pictures film, a production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, grossed $10.1 million in 326 domestic IMAX theatres.

The CinemaScore coming out of the weekend was an overall A from all audiences, with an A+ from moviegoers under 18. Opening day showings, starting at midnight on December 14, were sold out, some weeks in advance, and thousands of fans waited in line to be among the first to see the movie. “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” a production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Pictures, is the acclaimed first film in Oscar®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson’s epic “The Hobbit” Trilogy, based on the timeless novel by J.R.R. Tolkien.

The top-12 domestic weekend box office estimates listed in descending order.

  1. Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The – Warner Bros. – $84.8M
  2. Rise Of The Guardians – Paramount – $7.4M
  3. Lincoln – Disney – $7.2M
  4. Skyfall – Sony – $7.0M
  5. Life Of Pi – 20th Century Fox – $5.4M
  6. Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 – Lionsgate – $5.2M
  7. Wreck-It Ralph – Disney – $3.3M
  8. Playing For Keeps – FilmDistrict – $3.2M
  9. Red Dawn – FilmDistrict – $2.4M
  10. Silver Linings Playbook – The Weinstein Company – $2.1M
  11. Flight – Paramount – $1.9M
  12. Hitchcock – Fox Searchlight – $1.1M

From Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson comes “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” the first of a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. The three films tell a continuous story set in Middle-earth 60 years before “The Lord of the Rings,” which Jackson and his filmmaking team brought to the big screen in the blockbuster trilogy that culminated with the Oscar®-winning “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.”

Ian McKellen returns as Gandalf the Grey, the character he played in “The Lord of the Rings” Trilogy, with Martin Freeman in the central role of Bilbo Baggins, and Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield. Also reprising their roles from “The Lord of the Rings” in “The Hobbit” Trilogy are: Cate Blanchett as Galadriel; Ian Holm as Old Bilbo; Christopher Lee as Saruman; Hugo Weaving as Elrond; Elijah Wood as Frodo; and Andy Serkis as Gollum. The international ensemble cast of the Trilogy also includes James Nesbitt, Ken Stott, Sylvester McCoy, Barry Humphries, Aidan Turner, Dean O’Gorman, Graham McTavish, Adam Brown, Peter Hambleton, John Callen, Mark Hadlow, Jed Brophy, William Kircher, Stephen Hunter, Lee Pace, Benedict Cumberbatch, Manu Bennett and Conan Stevens.

The screenplay for “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” is by Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson & Guillermo del Toro, based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien. Jackson also produced the film, together with Carolynne Cunningham, Zane Weiner and Fran Walsh. The executive producers are Alan Horn, Toby Emmerich, Ken Kamins and Carolyn Blackwood, with Boyens and Eileen Moran serving as co-producers.

The creative behind-the-scenes team returning to Jackson’s crew included director of photography Andrew Lesnie, production designer Dan Hennah, conceptual designers Alan Lee and John Howe, editor Jabez Olssen, and makeup and hair designer Peter Swords King. The costumes were designed by Ann Maskrey, Richard Taylor and Bob Buck. Taylor also oversaw the design and production of armour, weapons, creatures and special makeup, which were once again made by the award-winning Weta Workshop. Weta Digital took on the visual effects for the film, led by senior visual effects supervisor Joe Letteri. The visual effects supervisor was Eric Saindon, with David Clayton serving as animation supervisor. The film features the song “Song of the Lonely Mountain,” performed by Neil Finn.

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