The first instalment in the Hobbit trilogy has led a record day in Australian cinemas as Peter Jackson beat his own mark to claim the largest Boxing Day release ever. Australia’s largest film exhibitor, Event Cinemas, posted its biggest day’s trading on record, with business up 69 per cent on Boxing Day last year and higher than any other individual day in the company’s 100-plus-year history.
Jackson’s film The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was the chief lure, drawing in $5,925,000 in one day to record the third biggest opening day ever, behind the final Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 ($7,092,000) and 2012’s biggest movie, The Avengers ($6,004,000).
