HOLIDAY BOX OFFICE SOARS ABOVE PREDICTIONS

A slew of new releases and strong holdovers drove the box office to the heights of Santa’s sleigh over the four-day holiday weekend. Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies led the field with an estimated $54.5 million for the period from Christmas Day Thursday through Sunday, but Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken far surpassed analysts’ estimates by posting $47 million over the four days for second place, edging out another over-performer, the Disney musical Into the Woods with $46 million. Meanwhile, the major theater chains, already tarnished by charges of cowardice for knuckling under to threats of violence by North Korean-linked cyberterrorists who had demanded that Sony’s comedy The Interview be yanked, appeared doubly embarrassed when the film earned about $2.8 million at just 331 mostly small, art-house theaters, or a solid $8,500 per theater. The chains had raised new objections to Sony’s decision to offer the movie on streaming video sites.

Variety: Box Office: ‘Hobbit’ Finale, ‘Unbroken,’ ‘Into the Woods’ Score on Christmas Weekend