erik lundegaard

Sunday December 16, 2012

Hollywood B.O.: Hobbit Takes Expected Journey

Peter Jackson's “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” opened at $84.7 million this weekend. That's the 37th-best opening weekend ever, the sixth-best this year, but the best December opening ever.

That surprised me. Really? No $100 million openings in December? Nope. Only the following months have seen $100-movie openings: March, May, June, July and November. And that leads us to our first trivia question:

1. Which of the following months has seen the most movies open at > $100 million?

 

  • A: May
  • B: June
  • C: July
  • D: November

 

“Rise of the Guardians” stayed strong, dropping only 28.7% for second place and $7.4 million, but “Lincoln” stayed even stronger, dropping a mere 18% for $7.2 million and third place. It's now grossed $107.8 million in six weeks. That's the highest-grossing film of Daniel Day-Lewis' career, but not, of course, of Steven Spielberg's career. It is, however, Spielberg's 15th film to gross more than $100 million. Trivia question No. 2:

2. Other than his pre-“Jaws” movies, what is the lowest-grossing film (unadjusted) of Steven Spielberg's career?

 

  • A: 1941
  • B: The Color Purple
  • C: Empire of the Sun
  • D: War Horse

Both “Skyfall” and “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2” dropped three places, from first and third, respectively, to fourth and sixth, respectively, and are virtually neck-and-neck (no pun) in domestic gross ($272m and $276m, respectively). They diverge greatly in terms of worldwide box office, however.

3. For 2012 movies, “The Avengers” grossed the most worldwide, at $1.4 billion (third-best ever), followed by “The Dark Knight Rises” at $1.08 billion (seventh-best ever). After these, which four films grossed the most worldwide in 2012?

 

  • A: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2, Brave, The Hunger Games, Snow White and the Huntsman
  • B: Brave, The Hunger Games, Skyfall, MIB: 3
  • C: MIB: 3, John Carter, Battleship, 2012
  • D: Skyfall, Ice Age: Continental Drift, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2, The Amazing Spider-Man

Finally:

4. Among Oscar contenders, “Life of Pi” came in fifth for the weekend with $5.4 million, “Silver Linings Playbook” finished 10th, “Flight” 11th, “Argo” 12th, “Hitchcock” 13th and “Anna Karenina” 15th. Which of the following films has grossed the least so far domestically?

  • Life of Pi
  • Silver Linings Playbook
  • Hitchcock
  • Anna Karenina

Answers in the Comments field below. The precious weekend box-office totals here.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Yep. Lots of precious.

Posted at 06:16 PM on Sunday December 16, 2012 in category Movies - Box Office  
« Quote of the Day   |   Home   |   Movie Review: Lawless (2012) »
 RSS
ARCHIVES
LINKS