'Hobbit' rules box office, 'Interview' succeeds online
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies took on a slew of newcomers at the holiday weekend box office and came out victorious.
Major studio releases such as Unbroken, Into the Woods and the controversial The Interview jumped out of the gate Christmas Day.
But the third and final Hobbit marched steadily through the weekend and raked in a treasure trove of $41.4 million, according to studio estimates from Rentrak. The film has earned $168.5 million since opening at No. 1 last weekend.
"The Hobbit is a perfect Christmas movie. All of these Hobbit movies have opened in December and played well over the entire Christmas holiday," says Paul Dergarabedian, box office analyst for Rentrak. "This final installment became a must-see movie event."
Meanwhile, the James Franco/Seth Rogen comedy The Interview slowed down from its initial $1 million Christmas Day opening in more than 330 independent theaters across the country. The film scored $1.8 million for the post-Christmas weekend, for a total of $2.8 million domestically.
The Interview performed better digitally: The movie has been rented or purchased online more than 2 million times, earning $15 million through Saturday, Sony Pictures says.
Rogen made it clear that the big victory was releasing the goofy satire after it was initially pulled from theaters in response to threats from cyber-terrorists.
"I'm so grateful that the movie found its way into theaters, and I'm thrilled that people actually went out and saw it," Rogen said in a statement released Sunday. "The fact that people actually left their houses when they had the option of staying home is amazing."
Angelina Jolie's epic Unbroken broke through the tape in a close race for second place, taking in $31.7 million for the weekend and $47.3 million in its first four days in theaters. The film, starring Jack O'Connell in the inspirational tale of Olympic runner Louis Zamperini, shot to a near-record $15.6 million on Christmas Day.
Trailing close behind for third place was Disney's musical Into the Woods. The all-star cast of Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp and Chris Pine earned $31 million for the weekend and $46.1 million including the holiday.
"Those are two huge openings, I don't think anyone expected these movies to be this impressive," says Jeff Bock, analyst for Exhibitor Relations. "And they will continue to play in the weeks to come."
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, the finale in Shawn Levy's Museum franchise, landed in fourth place with $20.6 million for its second weekend ($55.3 million total).
Sony's musical Annie rounded out the top five with $16.6 million, giving it $45.8 million to date since opening Dec 19.
The Clint Eastwood-directed American Sniper, starring Bradley Cooper, opened in just four theaters, making an impressive $610,000. The massive per-theater average of $152,510 is the second-highest this year, following the March release of The Grand Budapest Hotel at $202,792 per theater. American Sniper opens wide Jan. 16.
Paramount's Selma, starring David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King Jr., saw impressive numbers in its limited 19-theater opening — netting $590,000 for the weekend for a total of $912,000 since Christmas Day. The film opens wide Jan. 9.
Final figures will be released later this week.