Weekend Box Office: December 28-30, 2012

Hobbit still on top!

It was a busy box office weekend, but THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY held its place at the top of the chart with another $32.9 million (just 11% less than last week).

Bilbo and his wandering comrades have gathered $222.7 million domestically, so it’s conceivable that Peter Jackson’s latest trilogy-launching Tolkien film could reach FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING’s $313.3M total. THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY also has an additional $400 million in its pocketses from international audiences.

But a bounty-hunting ex-slave was hot on the trail of those Middle Earth travelers — DJANGO UNCHAINED came in a close second with $30.6 million. Quentin Tarantino’s violent and controversial epic is already at a $64 million total in its first six days (after a robust Christmas Day opening of $15 million). At this rate, it could end up being QT’s biggest movie, if it surpasses INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS ($120.5M) and PULP FICTION ($107.9M).

The latest big-screen adaptation of LES MISERABLES won the day on its Tuesday opening (with $18.1 million), but settled for third place with $28 million on its first full weekend in theaters. The grime-coated musical from Oscar-winning director Tom Hooper (THE KING’S SPEECH) got attention overseas as well, helping it hit a $116.1 million worldwide total so far. (By comparison, the 1998 song-free adaptation of LES MISERABLES with Liam Neeson, Claire Danes and Uma Thurman only made $14 million total in theaters.)

This was also a big weekend for audiences with considerable patience and sturdy bladders — the top three movies each clock in at more than two-and-a-half hours.

The week’s other new Christmas Day release didn’t get quite the same crowds. Billy Crystal’s new family comedy PARENTAL GUIDANCE landed in fourth with $14.8 million (and $6.3M on Tuesday), despite being on more screens than every Top 10 movie besides THE HOBBIT.

Tom Cruise’s JACK REACHER continues to thrash bad guys with another $14 million, just a 10% drop from its opening. That said, Judd Apatow’s maligned comedy THIS IS 40 actually made more than last weekend, as did Steven Spielberg’s LINCOLN, the Rogen/Streisand road comedy THE GUILT TRIP, and Pixar’s extra-dimensionalized reissue of MONSTERS, INC.

Outside the chart, SKYFALL finally makes its departure from the Top 10 (after hitting $1 billion worldwide), taking LIFE OF PI and THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN (PART 2) with it. In limited release, the Matt Damon drilling drama PROMISED LAND didn’t exactly strike oil (its per-screen average trailed AMOUR and THE IMPOSSIBLE), but Kathryn Bigelow’s bin Laden hunt ZERO DARK THIRTY has already collected $1.3 million on just five screens (it opens wide on January 11).

The new year begins by offering you just one new alternative to current releases, the latest spin on TEXAS CHAINSAW 3D.

What January release are you most looking forward to seeing? VOTE HERE!