Peter Jackson and Ang Lee's blockbusters boost end-of-year box office, as Skyfall becomes first film to break £100m barrier.
Delivering £11m between them, top titles The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and Life of Pi both posted sensational holds, helping UK box office overall to achieve its fifth biggest weekend haul of 2012. With Friday-to-Sunday takings of £6.85m, The Hobbit rose by 15% over the previous frame, and is one of only two films in 2012 (the other is Skyfall) to gross £5m-plus in its third weekend of wide play. Life of Pi rose a startling 48% from its debut weekend, and has achieved a robust £10.7m after 11 days of release. Based on the impressive increase, it's reasonable to conclude that Ang Lee's 3D literary spectacle is enjoying strong word-of-mouth from audiences.
Life of Pi has already grossed more than all but one of the major contenders from last year's awards race: best picture Oscar-winner The Artist maxed out in the UK at £9.8m; The Descendants got to £8.2m; and best actress champ The Iron Lady also fell just short of eight figures, with £9.9m. Among the nine best picture Oscar nominees from 2012, only War Horse, which managed a more impressive £18.7m, has yet to be overtaken by Life of Pi. Comparisons with the 2011 Oscar contendersare also encouraging for Life of Pi. The King's Speech, which went on to achieve an amazing £45.7m, stood at £10.8m after two weekends of play, almost identical to the Pi result, whileBlack Swan, which got to £16.2m, had reached £7.3m at the same stage of its run. Thanks to its holiday-season release date, Life of Pi has enjoyed the benefit of a highly available audience throughout its run so far, and its box-office might now be expected to decline sharply. Even so, it has made a racing start, and significant nominations and wins could sustain the film through January and February.
After 18 days of play, The Hobbit has reached a hefty £35.85m, overtaking The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 to become the fourth biggest hit of 2012, behind just Skyfall, The Dark Knight Rises and Avengers Assemble. Despite this success, Peter Jackson's latest Tolkien adaptation is slightly behind the pace set by his Lord of the Rings sequels. Nine years ago, Return of the King stood at £41.8m at the same stage of its run, while The Two Towers was a bit less robust, with £38.4m after three weekends of play. Only franchise kickstarter Fellowship of the Ring was slower out of the gate, with £35m at this juncture. Factoring in inflation and the 3D ticket price premium, audience numbers are, of course, lower this time around.
Top 10 films
1. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, £6,850,728 from 596 sites. Total: £35,851,158
2. Life of Pi, £4,180,308 from 550 sites. Total: £10,710,057
3. Jack Reacher, £3,575,066 from 448 sites (New)
4. Pitch Perfect, £1,295,355 from 366 sites. Total: £2,941,127
5. Parental Guidance, £1,293,400 from 439 sites (New)
6. Rise of the Guardians, £1,022,539 from 504 sites. Total: £9,501,553
7. Skyfall, £890,022 from 339 sites. Total: £100,460,679
8. Tinker Bell and the Secret of the Wings, £623,067 from 411 sites. Total: £2,210,986
9. Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger!, £386,248 from 388 sites. Total: £8,641,687
10. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, £386,248 from 159 sites. Total: £35,405,174
Source: guardian.co.uk/film
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