The Hobbit tops the final UK box office chart of 2012

UK box office top ten and analysis for the weekend of Friday 28th - Sunday 30th December 2012... 

The UK box office recorded its fifth-largest weekend of the year as 2012 drew to a close, with Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journeyand Ang Lee's Life of Pi both enjoying an increase over the previous weekend to fend off competition from Jack Reacher and retain the top two positions in the chart. The Hobbit claimed first place with a superb £6.85m in its third weekend, giving The Lord of the Rings prequel a healthy £35.85m after just three weeks on screens (making it the fourth-biggest earner of 2012 behind Skyfall, The Dark Knight Rises and The Avengers), while Life of Pi rose almost 50% from its opening haul, pulling in £4.18m to leave the acclaimed fantasy sitting on a solid £10.71m after just 11 days on screens.

Boosted by two days of preview screenings, the Tom Cruise action thriller Jack Reacher posted £3,575,066 to take third place ahead Pitch Perfect, the music comedy edging out the Boxing Day new release Parental Guidance, which managed a respectable £1,293,400 in fifth. Festive animated adventure Rise of the Guardians slipped three places to sixth, with Skyfall dropping one spot to seventh as it became the first film to crack £100m at the UK box office. Tinker Bell and the Secret of the Wings followed in eighth, leaving Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger! and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 to fill out the chart in ninth and tenth. 

Number one this time last year: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

1. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - £6,850,728 weekend; £35,851,158 total (3 weeks)
2. Life of Pi - £4,180,308 weekend; £10,710,057 total (2 weeks)
3. Jack Reacher - £3,575,066 weekend (New)
4. Pitch Perfect - £1,295,355 weekend; £2,941,127 total (2 weeks)
5. Parental Guidance - £1,293,400 weekend (New)
6. Rise of the Guardians - £1,022,539 weekend; £9,501,553 total (5 weeks)
7. Skyfall - £890,022 weekend; £100,460,679 total (10 weeks)
8. Tinker Bell and the Secret of the Wings - £623,067 weekend; £2,210,986 total (3 weeks)
9. Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger - £386,248 weekend; £8,641,687 total (6 weeks)
10. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 - £386,248 weekend; £35,405,174 total (7 weeks)

Source: flickeringmyth.com