While the film is expected to do well overall, The Desolation of Smaug has a lot working against it as a number of fans have taken issue with the first film and its pacing, the three film layout overall and some of the material added in. General audiences are a bit more forgiving, but with the nearly three hour run time which cuts down on the number of shows per day and some of the hesitancy among the core fanbase, it kept the second film of the trilogy for matching the first last year which did $84 million, a record for a December opening. This film placed fourth on that list as it took first place for the weekend with $73 million. It also took in another $131 million overseas for a $200 million opening, which is certainly nothing to sneeze at and something many films wish they could do.
Anecdotally speaking, I saw this with my family on Saturday as a snowstorm rolled in during the afternoon in 2D. A good sized multiplex, it was about 70% sold out for a 3:30 showing and met with what seemed to be positive responses. Going with another adult and three kids, two girls and a boy, all were pretty taken by it which is pretty impressive considering its run time and the young ages of a couple of them for what’s largely a dialogue driven movie in many places. I certainly understand the derision many fans have with it, but what so many kids of this generation are getting exposed to makes this a hugely positive thing in my mind.
The film had a lot of competition this weekend overall as Frozen held on well with a $22 million take while the latest Tyler Perry movie had one of his weakest debuts yet with A Madea Christmas nabbing only $160 million. Catching Fire is holding on as well as it closes in on being open for nearly a month as it took another $13 million for a $356 million total so far domestically and another $373 million overseas.
| RANK | TITLE | DISTRIBUTOR NAME | WEEKEND REVENUE | CUME REVENUE | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| REVENUE | # OF LOCATIONS* | LOC AVG | ||||
| 1 | Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug, The | Warner Bros. | $73,675,000 | 3,903 | 18,876 | $73,675,000 |
| 2 | Frozen | Disney | $22,184,000 | 3,716 | 5,969 | $164,388,000 |
| 3 | Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas | Lionsgate | $16,000,000 | 2,194 | 7,292 | $16,000,000 |
| 4 | Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The | Lionsgate | $13,150,000 | 3,563 | 3,690 | $356,981,997 |
| 5 | Thor: The Dark World | Disney | $2,700,000 | 2,264 | 1,192 | $198,125,000 |
| 6 | Out Of The Furnace | Relativity Media | $2,320,000 | 2,101 | 1,104 | $9,468,462 |
| 7 | Delivery Man | Disney | $1,872,000 | 2,041 | 917 | $27,995,000 |
| 8 | Philomena | The Weinstein Company | $1,756,000 | 835 | 2,102 | $11,018,978 |
| 9 | Book Thief, The | 20th Century Fox | $1,675,000 | 1,158 | 1,446 | $14,876,768 |
| 10 | Homefront | Open Road | $1,637,000 | 2,103 | 778 | $18,437,869 |
| 11 | Dallas Buyers Club | Focus Features | $1,129,592 | 574 | 1,967 | $14,159,276 |
| 12 | Best Man Holiday, The | Universal | $1,004,980 | 922 | 1,090 | $68,968,985 |