Despite the glut of movies opening on Christmas Day this week, Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken and Disney’s Into The Woods have emerged as top dog, although they have to face The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies for the top spot.
But first, let’s start with the real movie everyone is still talking about, Sony’s The Interview. Despite being available online, audiences who lived near the 300 indie theaters that showed it turned out in droves. According to Variety, it is estimated that the film finished the day with $1 million.
However, unless AMC, Regal and the other major theater chains agree to screen the film, its success will be limited. The film is available on YouTube, Google Play and XBox Video and will likely be on Netflix soon.
Earlier this week, Entertainment Weekly had predicted that Into The Woods would be the top movie of the weekend, but it looks like Unbroken came out of the gate stronger than expected. Universal’s Jolie-directed film about WWII hero Louis Zamperini scored $15 million on Christmas Day alone and is expected to finish the weekend with over $45 million.
Into The Woods was still a strong draw according to early estimates with at least $12 million. Variety reports that it is estimated to finish the weekend with over $40 million.
Peter Jackson’s final Hobbit film made around $12 million on Christmas day. The film could pass $150 million in total by Sunday.
Paramount’s The Gambler with Mark Wahlberg is estimated to have made $4.5 million, while Tim Burton’s Big Eyes took in $1.5 million.
image of ‘Into the Woods’ star Meryl Streep courtesy of Kristin Callahan/ACE/INFphoto.com