Columbia Pictures; SummitSo, when's The Hobbit opening again?
The weekend box office looked in need of fresh blood after Skyfall and Breaking Dawn Part 2 battled it—again.
This time, the James Bond movie scored the win, its first in four weekends, with an estimated Friday-Sunday take of $11 million.
After a three-week run at No. 1, the Twilight movie slipped to third, with $9.2 million, while the animated and thus-far disappointing Rise of the Guardians rose to second, with $10.5 million.
With $268.7 million in the domestic bank, Breaking Dawn Part 2 is now running ahead of the pace of both Breaking Dawn Part 1 and New Moon.
Every dollar Skyfall makes now just adds to its legend; with its worldwide total at $918 million, it is far and away the highest-grossing 007 adventure ever, as well as the biggest film ever released by its studio, Sony.
Steven Spielberg's Lincoln stayed strong, too, placing fourth, per the estimates, with $9.1 million, and knocking on the door of $100 million overall. (It's at $97.3 million.)
Gerard Butler's Playing for Keeps, the weekend's major new release and Groupon offer, played down to expectations, grossing a soft $6 million.
Elsewhere, Bill Murray's Hyde Park on Hudson ($83,280 at four theaters, per Exhibitor Relations) got off to a great start, fellow Oscar hopeful The Sessions ($223,000 at 197 theaters) broke the $5 million mark domestically, and the movie world counted down the days until the release of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, opening Friday.
Said Warner Bros. exec Jeff Goldstein: "We're ready."
Here's the rundown of the weekend's top movies, per Friday-Sunday domestic estimates as reported by the studios and Hollywood.com:
- Skyfall, $11 million
- Rise of the Guardians, $10.5 million (tie)
- The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2, $9.2 million
- Lincoln, $9.1 million
- Life of Pi, $8.3 million
- Playing for Keeps, $6 million
- Wreck-It Ralph, $4.9 million
- Red Dawn, $4.3 million
- Flight, $3.1 million
- Killing Them Softly, $2.7 million