The weekend is looking good for new releases, but The Hobbit still dominates.
What does it say about the Christmas season that a true-to-life war story has topped a fairytale musical adventure at the box office? I’m talking, of course, about the Angelina Jolie-directed, Jack O’Connell starrer Unbroken, which raced past Into the Woods on Friday with $12,3 million, while the Disney reimagining of the popular musical came close with $12,2 million.
Meryl Streep as The Witch is kind of the best thing to ever happen to musical theatre nerds.
Unfortunately, that’s as good as it’s going to get for the new releases this weekend, with The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies still dominating the chart. Peter Jackson’s fantasy epic checked in with $15,6 million this Friday and isn’t likely to slow down anytime soon. Of course, we won’t have the final word until later tonight, but you can already see where this is going, can’t you?
Watch the Hobbit trailer below.
The Universal drama is being positioned as an early Oscar contender, with Jolie possibly netting her very first Best Director nod, despite lukewarm reviews. If the movie does head into a successful awards season, Jolie and co. Will only have eager audiences to thank.
More: Subversively Witty Into the Woods Was Worth the Wait
Meanwhile, the star-studded Into the Woods is yet to scoop any awards buzz, but with a predicted weekend total of $50 million (as per Forbes’ generous) estimates, we’ll go ahead and call it a success anyway.
Friday estimates put Night at the Museum in fourth – sorry, Ben Stiller diehards, it just was not meant to be – and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part I in fifth with $3,5 million. The other new addition this weekend – Paramount’s The Gambler – made $3,4 million on its first Friday and is looking at a soft start and basically no chance come awards season. And that’s about it for this weekend. Check back on Monday for the final box office results.
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