By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com

The Weekend Report

The final installment The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies not unexpectedly led weekend viewing with an estimated $55.9 million. Two other new releases slugged it out for the bridesmaid slot with Night at the Museum: The Secret of the Tomb slight ahead of the contemporary Annie with $16.9 million to $16.1 million respectively.

Session box office chimed in just shy of $140 million and an upward bump of 64% from the prior weekend. Still, it was five percent behind the 2013 frame was the second weekend of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug edged out Anchorman 2 with, respectively $31.5 million to $26.2 million.

There was also good news for the Hindi P.K. – a Being There variant – starring superstar Aamir Khan with a $3.2 million tally at 272 locations. And exclusive newcomers included the Japanese anime Song of the Sea with $21,200 at two venues as well as a strong start for Oscar contender Mr. Turner that grossed $106,000 from five playdates.

Domestic revenues are expected to exceed $10 billion on Tuesday as compared to last year when that level was reached 18 days earlier on December 5. Through Sunday North American box office was 5% behind the comparable pace set last year.

The Battle of the Five Armies lived up to commercial expectations with a strong opening weekend and a $90 million-plus cume from its Wednesday domestic debut. It was a slightly better comparative start to the prior filmic chapter. The film opened a week earlier in 36 international territories with an excellent $117 million result. With current foreign results added The Hobbit finale has a $350 million global gross.

Studio exit polling had the audience composed 60% male with a comparable 60% aged 25-years and older. It was also the best IMAX result for any Hobbit with $7.7 million and 3D engagements accounted for 48% of the box office.

Critical response for the third Night at the Museum outing tilted toward the withering and its box office came short of tracking predictions that ranged from $22 million to $25 million. The opening crowd tilted slightly male at 51% with 54% aged 25-years and younger indicating that the new edition is finding its strongest support from families.

Museum 3 opened day-and-date in 28 foreign markets and generated close to $11 million. Its major market bows the U.K. grossed $2.9 million and Germany provided $2.1 million.

Expectations were considerably more modest for Annie, with predictions setting its bar between $13-$15 million. There was a giant question mark hovering over the choice to push the story forward from the Depression to modern-day Manhattan. But the gamble got a promising start with studio demos indicating 76% of opening weekend was attended by families. The big hurdle ahead is to make the picture work for an international audience.

Expansions for Wild, Top Five and Foxcatcher this weekend were blunted by the arrival of three major releases prompting this pundit to wonder why a more traditional January roll-out was considered too late for award consideration.

Weekend (estimates) December 19 – 21, 2014
Title Distributor Gross (avg) % chng Thtrs Cume
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies WB 55.9 (14,420) NEW 3875 90.3
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb Fox 16.8 (4,430) NEW 3785 16.8
Annie Sony 16.1 (5,150) NEW 3116 16.1
Exodus: Gods and Kings Fox 7.9 (2,260) -67% 3503 38.8
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 Lionsgate 7.7 (2,430) -39% 3174 289.2
Wild Fox Searchlight 4.1 (3,850) 166% 1061 7.1
Big Hero 6 BV 3.6 (1,490) -41% 2407 190.5
Top Five Par 3.6 (2,720) -48% 1307 12.4
The Penguins of Madagascar Fox 3.5 (1,290) -51% 2717 64.2
P.K. UTV 3.2 (11,650) NEW 272 3.2
Interstellar Par 2.6 (1,690) -52% 1550 171.5
Horrible Bosses 2 WB 2.2 (1,170) -52% 1902 47.8
The Theory of Everything Focus 1.6 (1,550) -36% 1011 19.8
Foxcatcher Sony Classics .94 (3,060) 159% 307 4.4
Birdman Fox Searchlight .91 (2,010) -31% 452 22.3
The Imitation Game Weinstein/Remstar .88 (25,880) 4% 34 3.2
Dumb and Dumber 2 Uni .77 (780) -72% 986 83.7
Gone Girl Fox .38 (1.080) -63% 352 165.2
St. Vincent Weinstein Co. .22 (550) -68% 404 42.4
Whiplash Sony Classics .19 (1,730) -24% 111 5.1
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible … Day BV .18 (700) 28% 261 64.8
The Homesman Roadside Attractions .17 (1,040) -55% 166 2
Fury Sony .16 (680) -73% 238 84.7
Inherent Vice WB .15 (29,400) -55% 5 0.6
Nightcrawler Open Road/Elevation .14 (930) -76% 153 31.5
Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) $132.30
% Change (Last Year) -5%
% Change (Last Week) 64%
Also debuting/expanding
Mr. Turner Sony Classics .11 (21,300) 5 0.11
Back in Time China Lion 94,700 (4,980) -54% 19 0.43
The Babadook IFC 91,200 (1,150) -32% 79 0.47
Les Maitres du suspense Seville 85,300 (1,520) 56 0.11
Citizenfour Weinstein Co, 55,700 (1,070) -49% 52 2
Force Majeur Magnolia 38,300 (980) -41% 39 1
Song of the Sea Gkids 21,200 (10,600) 2 0.02
Winter Sleep Adopt 6,100 (6,100) 1 0.01
Domestic Market Share (Jan. 1 – Dec. 18, 2014)
Distributor (releases) Box Office Market Share
20th Century Fox (20) 1678.9 17.10%
Buena Vista (16) 1534.4 15.70%
Warner Bros. (25) 1392.6 14.20%
Sony (21) 1189.5 12.10%
Universal (18) 1043.1 10.60%
Paramount (15) 1011.4 10.30%
Lionsgate (22) 706.1 7.20%
Weinstein Co. (26) 207.2 2.10%
Relativity (10) 178.8 1.80%
Open Road (9) 152.2 1.50%
Fox Searchlight (10) 128.1 1.30%
Focus (11) 114.5 1.20%
FreeStyle (10) 104.3 1.10%
eOne/Seville (30) 54.5 0.60%
Other * (339) 310.4 3.20%
9806 100%
* none greater than 0.4%
Top Global Grossers (Jan. 1 – Dec. 18, 2014) *
Title Distributor Box Office
Transformers: Age of Extinction Par 1,083,817,908
Guardians of the Galaxy BV 772,847,956
Maleficent BV 757,608,511
X-Men: Days of Future Past Fox 746,224,744
Frozen * BV 724,322,158
Captain America: The Winter Soldier BV 713,778,940
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Sony 709,012,447
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Fox 708,272,420
Interstellar Par; WB 625,877,989
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 Lionsgate 624,545,244
How to Train Your Dragon 2 Fox 619,891,729
Godzilla WB; Toho 523,345,942
Rio 2 Fox 498,781,117
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Par; MGM 478,382,017
The Lego Movie WB 472,173,863
Lucy Uni; Europa 462,126,598
Edge of Tomorrow WB 368,667,083
Noah Par 362,164,780
The Wolf of Wall Street * Par; Red Granite 350,418,304
Gone Girl Fox 345,348,943
The Maze Runner Fox 339,422,634
300: Rise of an Empire WB 331,624,640
22 Jump Street Sony 331,392,898
The Fault in Our Stars Fox 304,266,689
Divergent Lionsgate 289,044,408
* does not include 2013 box office
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Leonard Klady's Friday Estimates
Friday Screens % Chg Cume
Title Gross Thtr % Chgn Cume
Venom 33 4250 NEW 33
A Star is Born 15.7 3686 NEW 15.7
Smallfoot 3.5 4131 -46% 31.3
Night School 3.5 3019 -63% 37.9
The House Wirh a Clock in its Walls 1.8 3463 -43% 49.5
A Simple Favor 1 2408 -50% 46.6
The Nun 0.75 2264 -52% 111.5
Hell Fest 0.6 2297 -70% 7.4
Crazy Rich Asians 0.6 1466 -51% 167.6
The Predator 0.25 1643 -77% 49.3
Also Debuting
The Hate U Give 0.17 36
Shine 85,600 609
Exes Baggage 75,900 62
NOTA 71,300 138
96 61,600 62
Andhadhun 55,000 54
Afsar 45,400 33
Project Gutenberg 36,000 17
Love Yatri 22,300 41
Hello, Mrs. Money 22,200 37
Studio 54 5,300 1
Loving Pablo 4,200 15
3-Day Estimates Weekend % Chg Cume
No Good Dead 24.4 (11,230) NEW 24.4
Dolphin Tale 2 16.6 (4,540) NEW 16.6
Guardians of the Galaxy 7.9 (2,550) -23% 305.8
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4.8 (1,630) -26% 181.1
The Drop 4.4 (5,480) NEW 4.4
Let's Be Cops 4.3 (1,570) -22% 73
If I Stay 4.0 (1,320) -28% 44.9
The November Man 2.8 (1,030) -36% 22.5
The Giver 2.5 (1,120) -26% 41.2
The Hundred-Foot Journey 2.5 (1,270) -21% 49.4