The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey travels well at the New Zealand Box Office

The eagerly anticipated first film in The Hobbit Trilogy was released in cinemas yesterday and has already enamoured audiences all across the country.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, a production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), opened to a box office result yesterday of $782,695, making it the biggest non-holiday Wednesday opening of all time.

The box office takings compare favourably against The Lord of the Rings Trilogy on the records charts, with Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring grossing $720,933 on its opening day and The Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers grossing $757,887.

Many fans took the opportunity to be amongst the first in the world to experience the film on the big screen at Midnight on December 12th, with several cinemas reporting unprecedented demand and sell-out midnight sessions up and down the country.

Joel Pearlman, Managing Director of Roadshow Film Distributors, stated, “We are thrilled that the film has already resonated so positively with so many New Zealanders.”

“It is a spectacular and immersive visual experience,” Pearlman says.  “The film is available to be enjoyed in a variety of formats depending on each audience member’s preference.”

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has released on 203 screens, in 98 different locations nationally from Kaitaia to Invercargill.  It makes this film the biggest release on-screen on record in New Zealand. 
Included in the total are 39 locations showing the film in the new High Frame Rate 3D (HFR 3D) format.

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From Academy Award-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson comes The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.  The screenplay for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is by Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson & Guillermo del Toro.  Jackson also produced the film, together with Carolynne Cunningham, Zane Weiner and Fran Walsh.  The executive producers are Alan Horn, Toby Emmerich, Ken Kamins and Carolyn Blackwood, with Boyens and Eileen Moran serving as co-producers.  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and the second and third films of the trilogy are productions of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), with New Line managing production.  Warner Bros. Pictures is handling worldwide theatrical distribution, with select international territories as well as all international television distribution being handled by MGM.

“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” is released in New Zealand on December 12, 2012, with the second film releasing December 12, 2013, and the third film slated for July 17, 2014.

www.thehobbit.co.nz