NEW YORK -- While Hollywood continued to wrestle with the fallout of the Sony hacking scandal, the weekend box office offered the solace of a moviegoing truism: Hobbits sell.
Peter Jackson's final installment of his six J.R.R. Tolkien adventures, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, debuted with about $55 million last weekend and about $90 million since opening Dec. 17, according to studio estimates Sunday. For an industry reeling from the cancellation of The Interview and terrorist threats against moviegoers, Middle-earth offered reliable refuge.
Aided by popularity on Imax screens, The Battle of the Five Armies dominated the pre-Christmas frame with a five-day haul similar to the franchise's previous entry, The Desolation of Smaug, even if its actual debut weekend was notably less than both prior Hobbit movies. In its second week of release overseas, Warner Bros.' Five Armies added $105.5 million to bring its two-week global total past $350 million.
Jeff Goldstein, head of domestic distribution for Warner Bros., said the healthy weekend of moviegoing was a welcome respite after an upsetting and so disturbing week.
"Not only did we do business in places that I would expect, like the West Coast, we did business everywhere in the country," Goldstein said. "We didn't see that on the prior two Hobbits."
Another final installment in a trilogy, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, opened in a distant second place. The Fox comedy, which features Robin Williams' final performance, took in about $17 million, well off the pace of previous franchise entries. The franchise's previous debut was $54.2 million for 2009's Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.
Sony/Columbia Pictures, which on Dec. 17 shelved the Dec. 25 release of the North Korea satire The Interview following hacker threats of violence against theaters showing the film, unveiled its other holiday option. The studio's Annie remake, starring Quvenzhane Wallis as the titular orphan, opened with about $16 million.
"It was a nice shot in the arm," said Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony, who declined to discuss issues related to The Interview. "We're focused on Annie," he said.
Annie was a draw for families even though the film was one of the five pirated by Sony hackers.
Big names such as Jay Z and Will Smith signed on to help produce the remake of the family musical, which also stars Jamie Foxx, Rose Byrne and Cameron Diaz.
"This was a great opening for us and we know it's going to expand well through the holidays," Bruer said.
In a statement to the Los Angeles Times, director Will Gluck called the piracy and hacking "a truly awful violation that I fear we'll all be dealing with for weeks to come."
He added: "The one sliver of a silver lining I cling to, however, is that this movie we made about hope, inspiration and optimism might ultimately be seen by a few more people."
The family musical remake has a paltry 29 percent "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes but a high A-minus grade on CinemaScore.
The previous week's top film, Ridley Scott's Moses epic, Exodus: Gods and Kings, tumbled to fourth place with about $8 million in its second week. The Fox release slid a dramatic 67 percent.
Heading into one of Hollywood's most lucrative weekends of the year, the Christmas box office will be without its top comedy option in The Interview, directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. The film had been expected to take in about $30 million.
With one major release now out of the mix, that will leave more room for the Disney musical Into the Woods, Angelina Jolie's World War II tale Unbroken and The Hobbit.
"There's a huge opportunity there," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for box-office tracker Rentrak. "There's enough product out there to give it a very satisfying, Christmas holiday leading into the new year. Yeah, we are down one film, but it's a nice mix of films out there."
On Sunday, David Boies, a lawyer for Sony, said on NBC's Meet the Press that The Interview will indeed be released. The studio has been criticized by many, including President Barack Obama, for dropping the film following data leaks and intimidations from hackers the FBI has said came from North Korea.
"How it's going to be distributed, I don't think anybody knows quite yet," Boies said.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday (except The Hobbit, which opened Dec. 17), followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Rentrak:
"The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies," Warner Bros., $54,724,334, 3,875 locations, $14,122 average, $89,131,544, one week.
"Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb," 20th Century Fox, $17,100,520, 3,785 locations, $4,518 average, $17,100,520, one week.
"Annie," Columbia, $15,861,939, 3,116 locations, $5,090 average, $15,861,939, one week.
"Exodus: Gods And Kings," 20th Century Fox, $8,105,681, 3,503 locations, $2,314 average, $38,942,192, two weeks.
"The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1," Lionsgate, $7,879,421, 3,174 locations, $2,482 average, $289,356,110, five weeks.
"Wild," Fox Searchlight, $4,113,752, 1,061 locations, $3,877 average, $7,174,489, three weeks.
"Big Hero 6," Disney, $3,642,326, 2,407 locations, $1,513 average, $190,520,749, seven weeks.
"Top Five," Paramount, $3,590,013, 1,307 locations, $2,747 average, $12,477,306, two weeks.
"P.K.," UTV Communications, $3,565,258, 272 locations, $13,108 average, $3,565,258, one week.
"Penguins of Madagascar," 20th Century Fox, $3,476,141, 2,717 locations, $1,279 average, $64,123,602, four weeks.
"Interstellar," Paramount, $2,702,289, 1,550 locations, $1,743 average, $171,535,531, seven weeks.
"Horrible Bosses 2," Warner Bros., $2,203,429, 1,902 locations, $1,158 average, $47,778,121, four weeks.
"The Theory of Everything," Focus Features, $1,611,333, 1,011 locations, $1,594 average, $19,843,906, seven weeks.
"Foxcatcher," Sony Pictures Classics, $939,436, 308 locations, $3,050 average, $4,423,492, six weeks.
"Birdman," Fox Searchlight, $865,337, 452 locations, $1,914 average, $22,204,384, 10 weeks.
"The Imitation Game," The Weinstein Co., $858,615, 34 locations, $25,253 average, $3,155,576, four weeks.
"Dumb and Dumber to," Universal, $768,605, 986 locations, $780 average, $83,677,765, six weeks.
"Gone Girl," 20th Century Fox, $376,364, 352 locations, $1,069 average, $165,203,822, 12 weeks.
"St. Vincent," The Weinstein Co., $225,458, 404 locations, $558 average, $42,389,144, 11 week.
"Whiplash," Sony Pictures Classics, $214,014, 111 locations, $1,928 average, $5,104,755, 11 week.
MovieStyle on 12/26/2014