UK box office top ten and analysis for the weekend of Friday 12th to Sunday 14th December 2014…
Exactly a year after The Desolation of Smaug debuted in first place and two years after An Unexpected Journey did the same, Peter Jackson is back at the top of the UK box office chart with the final chapter of his Middle-earth journey The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies claiming top spot with £9,753,642 in its first weekend.
The Hobbit enjoyed the third-best opening of the year behind The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (£12.65 million) and The Inbetweeners 2 (£12.54 million), although both of those included previews, with only Mockingjay earning more over the Friday-Sunday period (£10.32 million). In terms of three-day weekends, it also opened bigger than its predecessors, with The Desolation of Smaug opening with £9.33 million and An Unexpected Journey with £9.51 million, although the first movie did add another £2.09 million in previews.
The only other newcomer to crack the top ten this week was the Disney animated sequel Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast, which pulled in £395,454 to take seventh place.
Number one this time last year: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
1. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, £9,753,642 weekend (New)
2. Paddington, £2,909,674 weekend; £14,306,197 total (3 weeks)
3. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, £1,089,989 weekend; £27,227,289 total (4 weeks)
4. Penguins of Madagascar, £1,051,071 weekend; £3,015,114 total (2 weeks)
5. The Imitation Game, £534,554 weekend; £12,414,439 total (5 weeks)
6. Get Santa, £448,550 weekend; £1,193,497 total (2 weeks)
7. Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast, £395,454 weekend (New)
8. Nativity 3: Dude, Where’s My Donkey?!, £381,673 weekend; £5,707,857 total (5 weeks)
9. Horrible Bosses 2, £317,160 weekend; £3,294,940 total (3 weeks)
10. Interstellar, £213,953 weekend; £19,727,100 total (6 weeks)
Incoming…
This Friday sees the release of comedy sequels Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (cert. PG) and Dumb and Dumber To (cert. 15), along with Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg’s Kon-Tiki (cert. 15).
