Box Office Rundown: 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' Breaks Record

This weekend at the box office, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey takes the top spot, setting a new record for December. DreamWorks’ Rise of the Guardians remained in second, while Lincoln regains the third spot.

Christmas comes early for The Hobbit team, the film set the opening record by earning $84.8 million, surpassing Will Smith’s I Am Legend, which made $77.2 million when it opened during the same weekend five years ago. The Hobbit also received an A CinemaScore from audiences, which is likely to keep this momentum through the holidays.

After four weeks, Rise Of The Guardians is holding strong in second place, earning $7.4 million for a total of $71.4 million. Guardians is far from making its production budget of $145 million, and may face some trouble in the coming weeks with all the new releases.

Steven Spielberg‘ Lincoln is getting more attention now that the Oscars are right around the corner. The film was able to climb up to the third spot this weekend with $7.2 million. After six weeks in theaters, Lincoln had earned a grand total of $107.9 million. There’s plenty of Oscar buzz circling lead actor Daniel Day-Lewis for his portrayal of the 14th president. If nominated(which he should), this would be Lewis’ 5th Oscar nomination. If he wins, it will be his third Oscar.

MGM’s Skyfall starring Daniel Craig falls from first to fourth after six weeks in theaters. In total so far, the film earned a whopping $951 million worldwide to date.

Reveiw the chart below for the top 12 films in theaters this weekend.

Weekend Box Office
December 14, 2012 – December 16, 2012 

TitleStudioWeekendTheatersTotalWeek
The Hobbit: An Unexpected JourneyNew Line Cinema (Warner Bros. Pictures)$84,775,0004,045$84,775,0001
Rise of the GuardiansDreamWorks Animation$7,420,0003,387$71,362,0004
LincolnDreamWorks Pictures$7,244,0002,285$107,898,0006
SkyfallColumbia Pictures (Sony), MGM$7,000,0002,924$272,366,0006
Life of Pi20th Century Fox$5,400,0002,548$69,559,0004
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2Summit Entertainment$5,175,0003,042$276,865,0005
Wreck-It RalphWalt Disney Pictures$3,273,0002,249$168,779,0007
Playing for KeepsFilmDistrict$3,247,0002,840$10,838,0002
Red DawnFilmDistrict$2,394,0002,250$40,889,0004
Silver Linings PlaybookThe Weinstein Company$2,084,000371$16,954,0005
FlightParamount Pictures$1,940,0001,823$89,448,0007
ArgoWarner Bros. Pictures$1,145,000667$104,930,00010

ncG1vNJzZmiZpKGur8DAm6Oam5uowaK%2BjZympmdiZX5ze5BrZmpuX5e8uXnOn52im5Viv7a6w6iup2WknbJutM6bmaKsXZa7bsHNnq%2BpnZOpsqV5yaisq6aVrnqjvsSaoqxlopqwsL7DaA%3D%3D