BOX OFFICE: THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG Takes $8.8M At Midnight Showings

BOX OFFICE: THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG Takes $8.8M At Midnight Showings

It's finally here! Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug opened in North America last night, and an impressive $8.8 million debut means that the sequel to 2012's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey now has the second largest December midnight opening of all-time!

News
By JoshWilding - Dec 13, 2013 09:12 AM EST
Filed Under: Fantasy









The second in a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien, "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" continues the adventure of the title character Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) as he journeys with the Wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and thirteen Dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) on an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor.


STARRING:

Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins
Ian McKellen as Gandalf the Grey
Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield
Graham McTavish as Dwalin
Ken Stott as Balin
Aidan Turner as Kíli
Dean O'Gorman as Fíli
Mark Hadlow as Dori
Jed Brophy as Nori
Adam Brown as Ori
John Callen as Óin
Peter Hambleton as Glóin
William Kircher as Bifur
James Nesbitt as Bofur
Stephen Hunter as Bombur
Luke Evans as Bard the Bowman
Hugo Weaving as Elrond
Cate Blanchett as Galadriel
Orlando Bloom as Legolas
Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel
Benedict Cumberbatch as Smaug

RELEASE DATE: December 13th, 2013.
About The Author:
JoshWilding
Member Since 3/13/2009
A lifelong comic book fan who grew up on Spider-Man: The Animated Series in the '90s, Josh Wilding has been contributing to ComicBookMovie.com since 2009.

While he's also written for websites like Batman-News, HeyUGuys, and WhatCulture, Josh is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic for CBM and the site's #1 contributor with nearly two decades of experience covering film and TV news (including interviews with Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Gary Oldman, Halle Berry, Jon Bernthal, Tom Welling, and hundreds more).

Based in the UK with his wife, Josh is also an avid WWE and Formula 1 fan and writes about those passions on CBM's sister sites, TheRingReport.com and FullThrottleHQ.com. Favourite superhero? Spider-Man. Favourite pro wrestler? CM Punk. Favourite F1 driver? Max Verstappen.
Cinemark Gives Us An Inside Look at What It Takes To Bring The Odyssey To IMAX
Related:

Cinemark Gives Us An Inside Look at What It Takes To Bring The Odyssey To IMAX
The Odyssey Is Now Certified Fresh And Verified Hot On Rotten Tomatoes - And It's Broken A Nolan Record
Recommended For You:

The Odyssey Is Now Certified Fresh And Verified Hot On Rotten Tomatoes - And It's Broken A Nolan Record

DISCLAIMER: As a user generated site and platform, ComicBookMovie.com is protected under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and "Safe Harbor" provisions.

This post was submitted by a user who has agreed to our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines. ComicBookMovie.com will disable users who knowingly commit plagiarism, piracy, trademark or copyright infringement. Please CONTACT US for expeditious removal of copyrighted/trademarked content. CLICK HERE to learn more about our copyright and trademark policies.

Note that ComicBookMovie.com, and/or the user who contributed this post, may earn commissions or revenue through clicks or purchases made through any third-party links contained within the content above.

Do you have what it takes to write for us?
Want to contribute?
NightBoyWonder
NightBoyWonder - 12/13/2013, 9:46 AM
MOVIE WAS INCREDIBLE!
JoeMomma29
JoeMomma29 - 12/13/2013, 9:46 AM
Great I cannot wait to see this today!!!!!!!
Gmoney84
Gmoney84 - 12/13/2013, 9:48 AM
I need to see this. Right meow!
TheRaven20
TheRaven20 - 12/13/2013, 9:51 AM
This movie was incredibly disappointing. As a huge fan of the book I was disgusted at how many liberties they took and unneccessary crap they put in. Definitely should have just made 2 movies but of course they wanted more money.

Didn't hate it for the same reasons I hated Iron Man 3 though. Iron man 3 was a terrbile movie overall, Hobbit was just a poor adaptation and generic fantasy movie that can be enjoyed if you haven't read the book.

If you read the book then there's alot of WTF moments.
BlackPhillip
BlackPhillip - 12/13/2013, 9:58 AM
Good, but not great movie. The action, humor, score, and action were all good, but the CGI really turned me off. Smaug, on the other hand, looked fantastic! Also, the cameos by Jackson, Colbert, and especially Gimli were nice. The barrels scene was so awesome! 3.75 out of 5 stars.
BlackPhillip
BlackPhillip - 12/13/2013, 10:00 AM
"Smaug was incredible, wish we'd spent even more time with him"

The movie spent like half an hour on him. That was plenty of time if you ask me.
TheRaven20
TheRaven20 - 12/13/2013, 10:06 AM
@RBS4ZPK9 The necromancer parts didn't bother me and I liked the inclusion of legolas. The first 30 minutes was really good IMO.

Spoilers:

It was how the whole movie was just dumbed down to audiences and the unneccessary inclusion of orcs during the barrells scene, and elves and orcs fighting in laketown, Tauriel and Fili romance (WTF), battle with Smaug in the mountain, etc.

I loved in the book how when we first meet Beorn we don't know hes a shap shifter and they Bilbo figures it out. In the movie its just flat out told to us. I also like how Bilbo tricks Smaug in to leaving the mountain, but in this there has to be an elaborate battle that defies physics (another thing that isnt consistent with LOTR is the physics).

And then Bard was misportrayed. I don't think they should have given him a family. He always came across as a loner in the book.

I did like the casting of Bard, Thranduil, and Smaug looked and sounded incredible. But the story was severely lacking and felt like they were just looking for crap to throw in to extend the movie.

Should have ended it with Smaug destroying Laketown too. That was a huge mistake cause it would have made for a great ending to a film called "Desolation of Smaug"
MrCBM56
MrCBM56 - 12/13/2013, 10:07 AM
Loved the movie.
MrCBM56
MrCBM56 - 12/13/2013, 10:09 AM
Movie of 2013 IMO.
TheRaven20
TheRaven20 - 12/13/2013, 10:31 AM
@Charlie2094 While I agree that that was probably their intention with Bard, there other ways of making us care about a character. I think of Bard in terms of Aragorn. We care about him even though he's an outcast and they used is backstory as rightful king as a reason to be invested in him. I just never got the sense that he was skilled archer and he was suppose to be captain of the guard. He was just some random laketown guy who the Master hated for some reason.
Battabing
Battabing - 12/13/2013, 10:44 AM
I get off work early so I'm going to a matinee.
I refuse to see this with the unwashed masses.
cipher
cipher - 12/13/2013, 10:51 AM
ForeverPowerful
ForeverPowerful - 12/13/2013, 10:53 AM
Ok, seriously...[frick] the ads on this website. I'm tired of the stupid sleeper ads that dont turn on for a few minutes, and then I hear from across my house the [frick]ing stupid ass cough medicine ads blasting from my room. Don't get me started on the [frick]ing ones that pop up from the bottom of the screen and blind you're vision of what you're reading.

I don't mind ads that don't interfere with my ability to navigate through the website.
cipher
cipher - 12/13/2013, 11:05 AM
I feel like I'm about to have the sudden realisation that I forgot to buy some shit for somebody this Christmas.

Probably my girlfriend's mother.
cipher
cipher - 12/13/2013, 11:39 AM
I'll send you the Macallan, yoss.
cipher
cipher - 12/13/2013, 11:40 AM
Heh, somebody.. just send me some Lagavulin, or Highland Park, and I'm happy.
cipher
cipher - 12/13/2013, 12:46 PM
Haha, bless your heart, brother. Wrap 'er up. I'll use my teeth to get it all off.
Related Headlines
Latest Headlines

Hot Headlines Hot Headlines

Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Anime & Manga

Gaming

Horror

Cartoons & Animated Features

Auto Racing

Action Movies & TV

Pro Wrestling & MMA News
View Recorder