TW LW Title (click to view) Studio Weekend Gross % Change Theater Count  / Change Average Total Gross Budget* Week # 1 N The Hobbit: An Un...

TWLWTitle (click to view)StudioWeekend Gross% ChangeTheater Count /ChangeAverageTotal GrossBudget*Week #
1NThe Hobbit: An Unexpected JourneyWB$84,617,303-4,045-$20,919$84,617,303-1
22Rise of the GuardiansP/DW$7,143,445-31.3%3,387-252$2,109$71,085,268$1454
34LincolnBV$7,033,132-21.1%2,285+271$3,078$107,687,319$656
41SkyfallSony$6,555,732-39.2%2,924-477$2,242$271,921,795$2006
55Life of PiFox$5,413,066-35.0%2,548-398$2,124$69,572,472$1204
63The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2Sum.$5,136,074-43.9%3,042-604$1,688$276,826,143$1205
77Wreck-It RalphBV$3,216,043-33.8%2,249-497$1,430$168,721,592$1657
86Playing for KeepsFD$3,146,443-45.3%2,840+3$1,108$10,737,535-2
98Red Dawn (2012)FD$2,408,882-43.1%2,250-504$1,071$40,904,305$654
1011Silver Linings PlaybookWein.$2,109,274-2.9%371-$5,685$16,979,323$215


The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is the eagerly awaited prequel for fantasists of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Based on legendary British writer J.R.R. Tolkien's 1937 fantasy novel, The Hobbit earned an impressive $84m (estimated budget $180m) becoming the highest December debut in Hollywood history shattering 2009's I Am Legend's $77.2m.
  Now there has been a long time since a Will Smith movies hasn't grossed about or over $100m in the United States but with such a fan database and The Lord of the Rings being the 3rd highest-grossing novel ever with an estimated $150m sold, it had the reputation to debut with $100m but sadly missed.
  The prequel is also directed by the filmmaker of all previous 3 films Peter Jackson. Jackson is also known for high-budget adaptations of popular works such as King Kong in 2005. And his movies are money-making gems with Lord of the Rings grossing $2.92m on an overall budget of $285m. John Carter was one movie with a total production cost of $250m.

  2003's The Return of the King has the topmost cumulative of over $1 billion. The Hobbit may have been a long-awaited journey for cinema-goers but critics have deemed otherwise. With an 'unexpected' 65% on the Rotten Tomatoes tally, criticism has been based a lot on whether it matches up to the earlier parts. And also on the pacing of the movie that the fun is demolished before the final half-hour. Still, I will watch this when it comes out on blu-ray as I've seen the previous films with Return of the King being my solid action-packed favourite.
  But being a prequel also leaves potential viewers more in a wait-and-see position rather than just hurling themselves into the theatre seats. Next week's Jack Reacher will probably be on number 2 introducing with $25m-$35m according to BO101 statistics.
  Steven Spielberg's epic historical Lincoln has set records for most awards nominated. It has also surprisingly surpassed other Oscar nomination Argo's gross by a tiny margin in the US. Argo was a surprise hit stating that Ben Affleck still has some gross juice left and that his childhood friend Matt Damon is not the only face that sells tickets. Lincoln has grossed an impressive $107m in domestic markets. With main thespian Daniel Day-Lewis being a strong contender for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He was also brilliant in the other critically acclaimed movie There Will Be Blood.
  The last and yes, hopefully last Twilight part distributed by Summit Entertainment 'summits' to 6th position from number 3 with Skyfall on 4 with more weeks on the American box office. Still Breaking Dawn: Part 2 has become the first Twilight movie to make over $500m worldwide. And some say there's no such thing as luck.
  Skyfall will also make $1 billion at year's becoming the first film in the 23 film series of James Bond to do so. Lord of the Rings was only a 3-part series! Skyfall has also become the most paramount-grossing film of all time in the UK which does not come as a surprise. But yes after Quantum of Solace's being the 19th film on the British list this is a great achievement for the franchise and may be I'll be alive for the 50th anniversary flick.
  Silver Linings Playbook stars one of my favorite actors Bradley Cooper and curvy actress Jennifer Lawrence and it jumps up from 11 to 10 this weekend. It is also mounting to a 2013 Oscar nomination.  Denzel Washington's Flight exits the top 10 with over $84m in gross while The Collection is at 16 with $6m to its name. It has a bigger debut than its prequel but still is $1m behind The Collector. Maybe it will become more advanced at the end of the year after a superior amount of major country openings.
  That's all from me folks. The Hobbit has a better opening than Return of the King but with 3-D/IMAX premiums so it was very possible. Also, it has 222.8 million dollars internationally but I still think it won't match the 2003 final film's aggregate. Here's the HD trailer below:


TW LW Title (click to view) Studio Weekend Gross % Change Theater Count  / Change Average Total Gross Budget* Week # 1 1 The Twilight Saga...

TWLWTitle (click to view)StudioWeekend Gross% ChangeTheater Count /ChangeAverageTotal GrossBudget*Week #
11The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2Sum.$17,416,362-60.1%4,008-62$4,345$254,598,866$1203
22SkyfallSony$16,555,894-53.4%3,463-63$4,781$245,585,083$2004
34Rise of the GuardiansP/DW$13,388,852-43.7%3,672+19$3,646$48,836,105$1452
43LincolnBV$13,376,696-47.9%2,018-$6,629$83,566,169$654
55Life of PiFox$12,151,853-45.9%2,928+1$4,150$48,512,994$1202
66Wreck-It RalphBV$6,948,550-58.1%3,087-172$2,251$158,184,813$1655
7NKilling Them SoftlyWein.$6,812,900-2,424-$2,811$6,812,900$151
87Red Dawn (2012)FD$6,500,245-54.5%2,781+57$2,337$31,272,953$652
98FlightPar.$4,479,067-47.0%2,603-35$1,721$81,465,903$315
10NThe CollectionLD$3,104,269-1,403-$2,213$3,104,269-1

Dreadful because of movies like the Twilight franchise to cause fear among cinema-goers like me to state that there is no hope in Hollywood. The Twilight series is based on the best-selling (among females) novels written by Stephanie Meyer. And no, although the grosses match that of Harry Potter, Meyer is no JK Rowling who has written original magic-themed stories. Meyer is one lucky daughter of pulp fiction.
  I read the first 10 pages of the first Twilight and it was dreadful. I can't contradict how anybody could read the approximate 500 pages of it and live to tell, unless they're actually undead, also the first 10 minutes of any part. So following Harry Potter's style of ending the franchise with two parts released of the final film, Breaking Dawn Part 2 opened up with a little over $140m in the US on a budget of $120.
  As of December 4, the entire film series has made over $3b worldwide with 5 adaptations. Except for the 3rd film, all others have achieved rotten ratings from critics. Roger Ebert, my favourite critic, has also not given any of them a positive rating and his highest applause rate was 2 out of four. Some critics have given such negative reviews calling it more of a comedy than a romance phenomenon. Thankfully, Shakespeare wasn't alive to watch it.
  All in all, this was the last movie and 2012 be the end of the world if there is another one. The Collection is a torture porn sequel to 2009's The Collector. Written by the creators of Saw's latter parts: Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton and directed by the former. The Collector was originally going to be a prequel of the Saw franchise but luckily the idea got dismissed, and the two screenwriters ended up with a more creative release than any of their contributed Saws.

  The Collector is one my favourite 2000 decade movies. More strategically designed than many of the Saw sequels and with the titular character being a the epitome of a vehement menace. The Collector was released in a lesser number of theatres domestically but managed to carve out a worthy gross of a little over $7m on a budget of  $3-3.4m. The worldwide total being $9 million.
  The Collection has an amazing trailer but I can't say anything about the movie prior to watching it. With a budget of $10m it managed to do a better opening than the original with $3m. Accumulation from other countries and Blu-ray/DVD releases will managed to give it a profit though I wonder if it should've been released on Halloween to fare better at the top 10.
  Killing Them Softly is another new release entering at 7. This was an unlucky one for Brad Pitt with blockbusters like Breaking Dawn 2 and Skyfall dominating the chart. Red Dawn flops at the US box office and will not even meet its budget, and is yet to be released universally. But it still has a chance to just make a tiny profit in foreign markets. It has made $31m off $65m.
  B-wood thriller Talaash starring Amir Khan, Kareena Kapoor and the ever-irritating Rani Mukerjee lands on 14 with Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning at 76 on 3 screens. The latter stars oldies Van Damme and Lundgren, and famous Light Heavyweight boxer Roy Jones Jr. along with The Expendables 2 villain Scott Adkins. This is the first film in the series to be filmed in 3-D although that shows no accomplishments in earnings.
  That's all from me folks. Check The Collection trailer below but remember it's not for the faint of heart. And join me next week for more BO101 news and reviews. Also later on for Lord of the Rings prequel The Hobbit's nationwide performance that is bound to be a big one.


(Chart by Box Office Mojo)