호빗: 스마우그의 폐허 (Time Warner Inc.)
24일 박스오피스 모조에 따르면 “호빗: 스마우그의 폐허”가 20일부터 22일까지 3,150만 달러, 누적 수익 1억 2,755만 달러로 2주 연속 북미 영화흥행순위 1위를 지켰다고 밝혔다.
“앵커맨”의 속편 “앵커맨: 더 레전드 컨티뉴”는 출연진들의 잦은 방송 출연과 대대적인 마케팅 전략에도 불구하고 2,677만 달러로 2위를 기록했다. 박스오피스닷컴(BoxOffice.com)에 따르면 “앵커맨 2”는 4천 500만 달러의 수익을 낼 것으로 예상됐다.
호빗의 강력한 경쟁자로 지목된 “앵커맨 2”는 SNL의 전 호스트인 윌 페렐이 출연한다. 그 외 영화 “아메리칸 허슬러”와 “세이빙 미스터 뱅크스”는 극장 수 확대와 함께 각각 4, 5위를 차지했다.
프리랜서 박스오피스 분석가이자 박스오피스모조 전대표인 브랜든 그레이(Brandon Gray)는 “이는 순조로운 출발은 맞지만 ‘앵커맨’ 첫 편의 흥행으로 꽤 높은 기대치가 있다”고 말했다. 이어 코미디 영화의 속편을 만드는 것이 액션 영화의 후속작을 만드는 것보다 어렵다며 대대적인 언론 홍보가 흥행으로 이어질지는 두고 봐야 한다고 전했다.
“호빗 2”는 J.R.R. 톨킨 소설 원작이자 피터 잭슨감독의 다섯 번째 영화로 전작 “호빗”을 포함해 “반지의 제왕”시리즈로 39억 달러의 수익을 냈다.
(코리아헤럴드 성진우 인턴기자)
<관련영문기사>
‘Hobbit’ sequel No. 1 film again; ‘Anchorman 2’ is 2nd
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” collected $31.5 million for Time Warner Inc. and MGM Holdings Inc. to lead U.S. and Canadian ticket sales for a second straight weekend.
“Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues,” the TV newscaster spoof starring Will Ferrell, opened second with $26.2 million, Rentrak Corp. said today in a statement. Two widely publicized films, Sony Corp.’s “American Hustle” and Walt Disney Co.’s “Saving Mr. Banks,” expanded to more theaters and finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
“Hobbit” outdueled “Anchorman 2” in the face of a marketing campaign, which in addition to the usual television and radio appearances by the cast, included Ferrell doing a commercial in character for Chrysler’s Dodge Durango sport-utility vehicle. The movie was forecast to generate $45 million in receipts for Paramount, the projection of BoxOffice.com.
“It was a solid start for ‘Anchorman,’ but there were some pretty high expectations based on the first ‘Anchorman,’” said Brandon Gray, an independent box-office analyst and former president of Box Office Mojo, an industry tracker.
“People were definitely aware of the movie, but making a comedy sequel is harder than for an action movie,” he said. “Even massive media coverage won’t necessarily translate into people flocking to theaters.”
Ron Burgundy
In “Anchorman 2,” former “Saturday Night Live” star Ferrell returns as Ron Burgundy, a top-rated San Diego newsman from the 1970s. In the new installment, Burgundy heads to New York to start the first-ever 24-hour news channel.
Co-stars Christina Applegate, Steve Carell, Paul Rudd and David Koechner reprise their roles, with Applegate now as Burgundy’s spouse and the others as weatherman, reporter and sports correspondent.
“Anchorman 2” was produced for about $50 million, according to IMDB.com, another industry researcher.
The original “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,” released in July 2004, produced opening weekend sales of $28.4 million, according to the website Box Office Mojo, and went on to generate $85.3 million in domestic sales.
“Hobbit” is Peter Jackson’s fifth film based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. The first “Hobbit” and three “Lord of the Rings” movies from 2001 to 2003 generated more than $3.9 billion in global box-office sales.
‘American Hustle’
Martin Freeman returns as the hobbit Bilbo Baggins in “The Desolation of Smaug.” Ian McKellen reprises Gandalf, the wizard he portrayed in the first Hobbit film and the original “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. The movie picks up where the last one ended, with Baggins, Gandalf and their dwarf friends continuing the quest to reclaim their homeland, Erebor, from the dragon Smaug, voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch.
“American Hustle,” which finished fourth, collected sales of $19.1 million for Sony as the film, nominated for seven Golden Globe Awards, expanded nationwide.
The movie, a fictionalized account of the Abscam scandal of the late 1970s, features Christian Bale as con man Irving Rosenfeld, who was forced to participate in an FBI sting operation. The film was forecast to generate weekend sales of $19 million, according to BoxOffice.com.
The cast includes Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, Jennifer Lawrence and Jeremy Renner. It was produced at an estimated cost of $40 million, according to Box Office Mojo.
Prehistoric World
Also expanding to more theaters this past weekend was Disney’s “Saving Mr. Banks,” which collected sales of $9.3 million. Tom Hanks stars as Walt Disney, working to convince author P.L. Travers to let him produce a film based on her novel “Mary Poppins.”
For two weeks in 1961, Disney mounts an all-out effort to win over Travers, played by Emma Thompson. “Saving Mr. Banks” was expected to produce $12 million in weekend sales, the forecast of BoxOffice.com. The film was made for an estimated $35 million, according to Box Office Mojo.
“Walking With Dinosaurs,” the only other new film opening in wide release, finished in eighth place with sales of $7.1 million for 21st Century Fox Inc. It was forecast to have weekend sales of $8.5 million, according to BoxOffice.com. The 3-D animated film is an immersive feature that puts audiences in the middle of a prehistoric world. It features the voices of Charlie Rowe, Karl Urban and John Leguizamo.
Revenue Up
It was produced for about $80 million by Animal Logic with the BBC, Evergreen Films and Reliance Big Entertainment, according to IMDB.com.
“Frozen,” the animated film from Walt Disney about two estranged princesses in an icy world, finished third, collecting $19.6 million in its fifth week of release.
Weekend revenue for the top 10 films rose 39 percent to $134.6 million from the year-earlier period, Rentrak said. Revenue for the year is up almost 1 percent to $10.4 billion. (Bloomberg)
