Box Office: 'The Battle of the Five Armies' Remains #1 with $41.4 Million

“Unbroken,” “Into the Woods” and the final “Hobbit” film gave Hollywood something to be merry about over Christmas weekend.

The success of these films and the staying power of “Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb” and “Annie” were surprising given that this holiday season faced unprecedented headwinds. Some of these pictures, such as “Unbroken,” with its brutal depiction of life in Japan’s World War II prison camps, and “Into the Woods,” with a body count to rival “The Sopranos,” fall short of being typical yuletide confections.

“There were a lot of debuts that were way bigger than expected, and it speaks to the strength of the market at this time of year and how people go to the movies almost as a reflex,” said Phil Contrino, vice president and chief analyst at BoxOffice.com.

The Christmas box office also unfolded against the chaotic rollout of “The Interview,” an R-rated comedy that suffered a terrorist threat, a cancellation and a subsequent revival. Ultimately, the film about an assassination plot on North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un had a jerry-rigged release across 331 arthouse and independent theaters, where it earned $2.8 million. It debuted simultaneously on digital platforms such as YouTube and Google Play and was added to Apple’s iTunes on Sunday, though it’s not playing on cable providers or Amazon. Sony Pictures, the studio behind the film, did not say how much it generated from its on-demand release.

The box office results may have been modest, but Sony says getting the film seen was accomplishment enough.

“The fact that we were able to get it done and released in so many formats, and made it happen despite the odds, is something we feel good about,” said Rory Bruer, Sony Pictures president of worldwide distribution.
Despite those challenges, the overall box office will be up 7% over last year’s Christmas period, with ticket sales topping out at $211 million.

Once again it was Peter Jackson and his Middle-earth finale that cast the biggest shadow over multiplexes, as “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” marched to $41.4 million in its second weekend in theaters. The New Line and MGM co-production has picked up $168.5 million domestically.

“Unbroken,” Angelina Jolie’s account of Olympian Louis Zamperini’s harrowing efforts to survive his bomber plane’s ocean crash and later imprisonment by the Japanese, picked up $31.7 million across 3,131 locations this weekend. The Universal release cost $65 million to produce and has brought in $47.3 million since debuting on Christmas.