'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' Projected To Dominate The 2012 Holiday Box Office

By Tom Herrmann | November 01 2012 1:52 PM

Box Office Mojo has released projections for the 2012 holiday season at the box office, and the prequel to the acclaimed “Lord of the Rings” trilogy “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” is expected to come out on top. The film is slated to earn more than the “Twilight” finale “Breaking Dawn: Part 2” and the 007 film “Skyfall.”

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Early viewers of the soon released movie report motion sickness symptoms caused by the films high frame rate.

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The Warner Bros. film directed and produced by Peter Jackson, who also directed and produced the three “Lord of the Rings” films, is projected to earn a whopping $330 million this winter. The previous trilogy of films in the series based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy novels earned over $1 billion at the domestic box office between 2001 and 200, with the projections for the new installment being about an third of that.

Tweens might not be too happy about this, with “Breaking Dawn: Part 2” in second place. The film’s earnings forecast is a hefty $320 million, but still short of the high expectations for “The Hobbit.”

The vampire romance’s highest grossing film was 2010’s “Eclipse,” which earned $300.5 million. The final installment is expected to surpass part three, even though “Breaking Dawn: Part 1” only earned $281.3 million.

The previous Bond film “Quantum of Solace” grossed a franchise record of $168.4 million in a series with over 20 films. Bond’s next adventure in “Skyfall” is projected to beat that record with $185 million.

Other holiday films expected to earn big this year are “Wreck-It Ralph” with $155 million, “Rise of the Guardians” with $130 million, “Les Miserables” with $125 million, “Django Unchained” with $105 million, “Silver Linings Playbook” with $100 million, “Life of Pi” with $95 million, "Jack Reacher” with $90 million, “This Is 40” with $85 million and “Flight” with $75.