“THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY” SMASHES RECORDS AS IT VENTURES TO THE TO THE TOP OF THE WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE
First film in Peter Jackson’s epic “The Hobbit” Trilogy takes in an estimated worldwide $223 million in its opening weekend.

 “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, including a record-breaking $15.1 from IMAX theatres worldwide.  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.”

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.

Internationally, the film opened in 56 markets, representing approximately 70% of the total projected final screen count, with such major territories as Australia, Russia, China and others still to come. Shot in 3D 48 frames-per-second, the film was released in High Frame Rate 3D (HFR 3D) in select theaters, other 2D and 3D formats, and IMAX^®.

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.”

Now playing in 3D and 2D in select theaters and IMAX!