“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” has succeeded in passing the worldwide half billion dollar mark at the box office. In release for only 14 days, the film is doing great business overseas, but is lagging behind in the U.S. Many critics have panned the film for being slow, and complain the 48 frames per minute makes the film look like a home video. Over 80 percent of audience members found the film highly entertaining and also commented that director Peter Jackson flawlessly propelled them back to the magical world of Middle Earth.
To date, the blockbuster has earned $179.7 million domestically. In addition, on the heels of its record-breaking release in Australia — the biggest Boxing Day opening of all time — “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” has grossed an estimated $344 million internationally, for a staggering global total of $523.7 million, and is still steadily climbing. The joint announcement was made by Toby Emmerich, President and Chief Operating Officer, New Line Cinema; Gary Barber, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios; Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures; and Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, President of International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures. A production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Pictures, it’s 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.
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” opened theatrically on December 14th. The film stars Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Andy Serkis, Cate Blanchett, Elijah Wood, Benedict Cumberbatch, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, Evangeline Lily, Luke Evans, Christopher Lee, Stephen Fry, Lee Pace, Ian Holm, Aidan Turner, James Nesbitt, Mikael Persbrandt, Conan Stevens, Graham McTavish, Barry Humphries, Sylvester McCoy, Billy Connolly, Dean O’Gorman, Ken Stott, Jed Brophy, Jeffrey Thomas, Stephen Hunter, John Callen, William Kircher, Peter Hambleton, Adam Brown, Mark Hadlow, Michael Mizrahi, Ryan Gage, Renee Cataldo, and Ray Henwood. Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Guillermo del Toro wrote the screenplay, which was adapted from the story by J.R.R. Tolkien. Peter Jackson directs.
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” will be released on December 13th, 2013.
“The Hobbit: There and Back Again” comes to theaters on July 18th, 2014.
Source: deadline, rotten tomatoes