Warner Bros., New Line Cinema and MGM have announced that The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has surpassed the $500 million benchmark at the worldwide box office.
To date, the blockbuster has earned an estimated $179.7 million in the USA. In addition, on the heels of its record-breaking release in Australia — the biggest Boxing Day opening of all time — the film has grossed an estimated $344 million internationally. The global total is $523.7 million, and steadily climbing. Continue reading “The Hobbit hits half a billion”
Spanish Tolkien website El Anillo Único is reporting that a teaser for The Desolation of Smaug will begin showing in theatres in Spain from January 4.
UPDATE: A few readers have informed us that December 28 is a traditional day of pranks (Called inocentadas) and jests in Spain in a similar way to April Fool’s Day. So best to take a huge grain of salt with this one. Well, that’s a bit of a pity.
Boxoffice.com reports that The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey recorded the best-ever box office figures for a Wednesday that wasn’t a holiday. According to the site, The Hobbit pulled in $643,000 (Boxoffice fails to specify, but I’m assuming this is USD) around New Zealand. Overall, in the 16 countries it has so far opened in, it has grossed $11.2 million, including $4.3 million across Scandanavia, $2.4 million from France and $2 million in Germany.
The film will open in 55 countries this weekend on approximately 17,000 screens, including 4,045 in the USA. Thanks to Ringer Selfish Narwal for the heads-up.
The unexpected journey begins this December. An anonymous source earlier claimed that The Hobbit faced release delays in some territories. The production team at Wingnut informs us this is not true. They tells us categorically that:
“All is on time and the release has NEVER been at risk of delay.”
Australian independent news outlet Crikey reports on The Hobbit premiere and explores the rocky road to making the movie happen: Blockbuster movie premieres don’t get any bigger than the opening of Peter Jackson’s first Hobbit movie. But the road to get here has been anything but smooth.
Jonathan Handel, a contributing editor for The Hollywood Reporter, covered that tense period during the late summer and early autumn of 2010, when it looked as though the Hobbit production might leave New Zealand. Readers will no doubt remember the labor union issues that raised that threat and the negotiations between Warner Bros. executives and the New Zealand government. Handel has revised and updated his reports into a short book, The New Zealand Hobbit Crisis, available in print form and for Kindle. If you weren’t paying much attention at the time or just have forgotten some of the details, now you can read about that episode secure in the knowledge that The Hobbit‘s production remained in New Zealand!
Warner Bros., New Line Cinema and MGM have announced that The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has surpassed the $500 million benchmark at the worldwide box office. 
