‘The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug’ Has Second Highest December Opening Ever
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has the second highest December opening ever, after premiere at midnight on Thursday.
Fans flocked to movie theaters at midnight, to check out the latest installment in director Peter Jackson’s trilogy, based on J.R.R. Tolkien novel, The Hobbit.
The highly anticipated sequel follows last years first part, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which opened around the same time of the year.
Several theaters across the US held midnight screenings, which some fans attended dressed in their favorite characters costumes, much like Star Wars followers do.
Initial estimates indicate The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug brought in an impressive $8.8 million on the midnight showings, making the film the second highest December opening ever.
The top spot belongs to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which after its midnight screenings in December of 2012 earned a total of $13 million.
Even though the earnings for Desolation Of Smaug are not as high as the original, the movie is still expected to bring in $84 million, about the same as the first part did.
Many cricits are saying The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is even better and more action packed than the first installment, thanks to the presence of the dragon and the stunning imagery created by Peter Jackson.
True Tolkien fans or ringers (derived from The Lord Of The Rings), as they also call themselves, have been anticipating the continuation of the saga and the introduction of the evil dragon, Smaug.
Peter Jackson did a great job of keeping any and all details related to the Smaug from being released, even the cast did not know what the creature looked like.
The Hobbit is expected to easily topple last week’s No. 1 film, the Disney animated Frozen.
Martin Freeman returns as Bilbo Baggins, the hobbit, who continues his unexpected journey as he helps his new friends, the dwarves, in their quest of their long-lost home of Erebor, at the hands of Smaug.
The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug is made up of an impressive ensemble which includes, Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Luke Evans, Evangeline Lilly, Orlando Bloom, Lee Pace, and many others.
