THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY Debuts With $85M


Well, this isn’t a surprise. Peter Jackson’s return to Middle Earth, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, was finally released on Friday – and the (massive) figures are in for the prequel’s opening weekend. An Unexpected Journey, boosted by IMAX, 3D and HFR 3D premium ticket prices, smashed the opening weekend record for December with an impressive $85M domestically.

That’s the highest opening weekend of any of the Middle Earth movies (An Unexpected Journey easily beat The Return of the King, which didn’t have the boost of any of the premiums that An Unexpected Journey has) – a great start for The Hobbit trilogy, which will continue next December with The Desolation of Smaug.

Internationally (in 56 countries), An Unexpected Journey grossed $57M for a worldwide figure of $142M, with an awful lot of that number being made up of 3D and HFR sales (I guess that means that it’s Peter Jackson 1, Critics 0) .