‘The Hobbit:’ Movie On Track To Make $85 Million At US Box Office

Director Peter Jackson’s fantasy flick The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is on track to make around $85 million at the weekend box office, according to Deadline.

Studio estimates put the movie’s Friday numbers at $37.5 million. On Saturday, Jackson’s return to Middle Earth netted an impressive $28.1 million. Should the picture keep performing at this level, then The Hobbit stands to make around $85 million at the box office.

Reports indicate that Jackson’s adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved adventure is pulling in larger numbers than the director’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. In fact, The Hobbit has broken records for biggest December Friday and biggest December weekend.

Forbes reports the movie’s midnight showings brought in nearly three times the amount of cash that James Cameron’s Avatar generated when it opened in 2009.

When all of the receipts from around the globe have been accounted for, The Hobbit stands to make roughly $200 million worldwide. Not even the film’s lengthy running time seemed to impede the film’s ability to make a sizable amount of money at the box office.

Although the first installment of Peter Jackson’s new trilogy seems to have connected with audiences, The Hobbit didn’t hit the right notes for a large number of film critics. The picture’s Rotten Tomatoes score is currently at 65 percent.

Globe and Mail critic Liam Lacey explained that, while Jackson’s return to this magical world is certainly a feast for the eyes, his decision to stretch the tale into three movies only serves to wear out the narrative’s welcome.

“The repeated iterations of fight, flight and respite here get wearing. Especially perhaps because, with Jackson’s fetish for detail, they take more time to watch on screen than to read about,” Lacey wrote in his review.

Did you catch The Hobbit in theaters this weekend? Are you looking forward to the next installments in the series?