After staying on top of the box office for the past three weeks, Peter Jackson’s adventure fantasy prequel, ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,’ was ripped out of the number one spot at the domestic box office. The weekend’s only new wide release, ‘Texas Chainsaw 3D,’ is the latest January horror film to reach number one, pulling in a surprising $23 million.
1. Texas Chainsaw 3D ($23 million)
2. Django Unchained ($20 million)
3. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey ($17.5 million)
4. Les Miserables ($16.1 million)
5. Parental Guidance ($10.1 million)
6. Jack Reacher ($9.3 million)
7. This Is 40 ($8.5 million)
8. Lincoln ($5.2 million)
9. The Guilt Trip ($4.5 million)
10. Promised Land ($4.3 million)
Analysis
Much like last January’s poorly reviewed horror film, ‘The Devil Inside,’ which was a surprise hit for the first weekend of 2012, despite negative reviews, the latest ‘Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ sequel headed straight to the top of the box office. Audiences wanted to see the latest killings of notorious franchise villain Leatherface, despite ‘Texas Chainsaw 3D’s negative reviews, with a 22% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and a C+ CinemaScore.
One of the Golden Globe-nominated dramas to be released on Christmas, Quentin Tarantino’s acclaimed historical western ‘Django Unchained,’ took the second place spot with another $20 million. The film has already grossed over $100 million in just 13 days. It’s on track to become the filmmaker’s largest domestic movie, beating ‘Pulp Fiction’s $107.9 million run in 1994 and his last effort, 2009’s Oscar-winning ‘Inglourious Basterds,’ with $120.5 million.
‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ stumbled to third place after spending its first three weeks in theaters in the number one spot. It earned $17.5 million during it’s fourth weekend in release, and has made $777.2 million worldwide to date. However, it still has a long way to go to match ‘The Fellowship of the Ring,’ the lowest-earning entry in its predecessor series, ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy. ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’ earned $869.3 million worldwide after its December release in 2001.
The period musical ‘Les Miserables,’ based on the hit Broadway play, has also crossed the $100 million mark sine its release on Christmas. The ensemble film earned another $16.1 million this weekend, securing the number four spot. But it still faces competition from other hit musical films, including ‘Hairspray’ ($118.8 million); ‘Enchanted’ ($127.8 million); and ‘Mamma Mia!’ ($144.3 million).
Other holiday releases, including ‘Parental Guidance,’ ‘Jack Reacher’ and ‘This is 40,’ all landed within a million dollars of each other, and are all still struggling to find audiences. But on the other end of the spectrum, despite being in theaters for nine weeks, award favorite ‘Lincoln’ managed to stay in the top 10 again. It’s $5.2 million weekend gross brings its total gross to an impressive $143.9 million. The two films with the lowest per-screen average in the top 10 this weekend were Matt Damon’s fracking drama ‘Promised Land,’ despite its expansion, and Barbra Streisand’s first starring role in 16 years, ‘The Guilt Trip.’
Written by: Karen Benardello
