International Box Office: Hobbit Ends the Year On Top

January 1, 2014

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug poster

As it has the past couple of weeks, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug topped the international chart earning $99.7 million on 15,782 screens in 61 markets for totals of $424.8 million internationally and $615.1 million worldwide. The film opened in Australia on Boxing Day, but due to the holidays earning first place with a total opening of $12.9 million on 629 screens; however, this was a little behind An Unexpected Journey's debut there. On the other hand, the film set the record for biggest total opening in Poland with $5.6 million on 425 screens.

Frozen saw growth over the weekend, but still remained in second place with $50.5 million in 43 markets for a month-long total of $243.5 million internationally and $491.9 million worldwide. The biggest market of the weekend was Australia where it earned $5.3 million for a total opening on $6.5 million. It has yet to open in Japan and China. In fact, the latter market doesn't even have a release date.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty debuted in third place with $27.2 million on 4,172 screens in 39 markets. Oddly, the film's biggest debut came in Italy where it made $4.9 million on 351 screens. Italy is a major market, but it is one of the smallest major markets. On the other hand, the U.K. is one of the largest international markets and the film made $4.1 million on 650 screens. Other major markets the film opened in include Australia ($3.2 million on 248 screens); Spain ($3.1 million on 374); Mexico ($2.5 million on 1,013); and Brazil ($2.2 million on 407).

Police Story 3 added $18 million for the week in China for a total of $39 million after two.

47 Ronin was next with $14.7 million on 2,296 screens in 29 markets for a total of $23.2 million. Its biggest new release of the week was the U.K. where it clocked in with $2.3 million on 375 screens. This is relatively stronger than its debut here, but not by enough to make a difference in the grand scheme of things. It did reasonably well in Spain $1.9 million on 344 screens, but compared to its production budget of $225 million, this is a tiny amount.

Personal Tailor fell to sixth place with $12.5 million giving it $68.0 million after two weeks of release. I believe it is playing in more than one market, but like most Chinese films, we don't have information on any individual markets.

Walking with Dinosaurs fell to seventh place with $12.2 million on 8,273 screens in 49 markets for a total of $33.1 million after two weeks of release. The film reportedly cost $80 million to make, so unless it has strong legs, this won't be enough to break even any time soon.

The Attorney was right behind with $12.0 million over the weekend for a total of $33.0 million after two. Again, like almost all Chinese films, there were no other details were released.

The Physician, a.k.a., Der Medicus, opened in ninth place, sort of. It earned $11.9 million, but that was over five days. It debuted in both Germany and Spain, but we don't have details to give.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire was next with $10.5 million in 85 markets for totals of $404.0 million internationally and $795.0 million. It bombed in Japan with just $540,000; however, the Japanese market has really shifted recently and violence filled blockbusters have not done well over the past few years. The film has likely already has topped $800 million, which is over $100 million more than the first film. It is also enough to cover the combined production and P&A budgets for this film and likely the next film as well.

Anchorman: The Legend Continues fell to eleventh, or tenth, depending on how much The Physician made over the weekend. It made $8.0 million in 6 markets for a two-week total of $24.5 million. The film added $4.4 million over the weekend in the U.K. for a total of $14.4 million, while it managed $3 million in Australia for a two-week total of $9.5 million. The original film barely got an international release, so this is a huge step up in terms of box office numbers.


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Filed under: International Box Office, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, 47 Ronin, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Frozen, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Walking with Dinosaurs