That’s right, folks!
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has beat out Avatar!
Peter Jackson‘s newest adaptation of the J.R.R. Tolkien classic debuted this weekend to an estimated $84.8 MILLION weekend box office, which secures it above the James Cameron sci-fi extravaganza as the largest ever domestic debut for a film released in December!
Oh, and with the $138.2 million it made overseas, the flick has made a combined $223 MILLION worldwide!
Holy SHIZ! Way to go, Gandalf!
Or perhaps we should be congratulating the much-criticized high-frame-rate format in which the film was shot, as IMAX theaters playing the film in such averaged $44,000 per screen while regular screens made $31,000!
Either way, they can only go UP from here on out!
Ch-ch-check out the full box office top ten from this weekend…AFTER THE JUMP!!!
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, $84.8 million
Rise of the Guardians, $7.4 million
Lincoln, $7.2 million
Skyfall, $7 million
Life of Pi, $5.4 million
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2, $5.2 million
Wreck-It Ralph, $3.3 million
Playing for Keeps, $3.2 million
Red Dawn, $2.4 million
Silver Linings Playbook, $2.1 million