'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' becomes 15th film to reach $1 billion in sales

Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit has become the 15th film to gross over $1 billion.

According to BBC, this is Jackson’s second film on the list as The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King brought in a reported $1.2 billion following its release in 2003.

The highly anticipated prequel brought in $301.1 million domestically and under $700 million internationally, The Hollywood Reporter notes. Following the news of the milestone, Warner Bros. president of Domestic distribution Dan Fellman said, “We could not be more proud to have reached reached this amazing benchmark. Together with our partners at MGM and New Line, everyone at Warner Bros. congratulates Peter Jackson and his entire cast and crew on the extraordinary success of this film.”

THR notes that The Hobbit's success was seen worldwide as its top foreign markets include Germany, the U.K., France, Australia and Russia.

“From Berlin to Beijing, it is so gratifying to see how the release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has been such an event with audiences around the world,” adds Veronika Kwan Vadenberg, president of international distribution. “It’s an exciting bellwether as we move toward the release of the second film in the trilogy.”