Before I get to the grosses, I just want to offer my condolences to the families of the tragic Connecticut school shooting yesterday. May God be with you in this time of grieving....
Overall box office is set to be up from last year....
True to its' anticipation, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey topped the box office with a huge estimated $37.5 million on Friday. In one day alone, the movie averaged $9,277 per theater (4,045 locations). That's the largest Friday ever for December, ahead of Avatar ($26.75 million). Critical reception was modest, but audiences loved it, giving it an "A" CinemaScore. Some are concerned if the shooting will affect Saturday and Sunday's grosses, and are prepared for the weekend estimate to be lowered to the $85 million range. But I digress, I think it will perform more like Avatar did. The movie should dip slightly on Saturday before dropping a bit harder on Sunday. $100 million is possible, but I think it will land just slightly under that with a $97 million weekend, easily enough to take the December opening weekend record.
As for the holdovers, they are relatively unaffected by The Hobbit. Lincoln actually came in second on Friday with an estimated $1.9 million, followed by Skyfall at an estimated $1.85 million and Rise of the Guardians at an estimated $1.5 million. Expect the latter to come out ahead in second with a $7 million weekend, followed by James Bond with $6.5 million and Steven Spielberg's historical drama with $6 million. Life of Pi rounded out the Top 5 with an estimated $1.4 million, for what should be a $5.5 million weekend...
Weekend estimates coming tomorrow evening...
