Peter Jackson‘s holiday behemoth The Hobbit held onto the top spot at the pre-Christmas box office in its second week with a good $36. 7 million bringing its total come to $149 million and much more to come. The Hobbit easily fended off a quartet of new releases that all proved disappointing. Opening best was the Tom Cruise action flick Jack Reacher with a lackluster $15.6 million. We’ll see if it can hold up well as audiences were generally pleased with the film despite the miscasting of Cruise. (Hello, the character of Reacher in the book is 6’5 and blonde~ two things Cruise aint, but I digress.)… Arriving with a thud in third was the atrocious new Judd Apatow “comedy” This is 40 with $12 million. The audience response was poor as well which does not bode well for its future. I gave this heaping piece of unfunny crap a “D” grade… it did beat out the surprisingly funny road trip comedy The Guilt Trip with Barbra Streisand and Seth Rogan which only took in $5.3 million. Trip (which I gave a “B” grade to) will have to work real hard after Christmas to even approach breaking even… The final new film to implode upon arrival was the 3D release of Monsters Inc with just $5 million. It was outpaced by the long running Rise of the Guardians which has had the best legs of all films this season after a wonky start…. For more on all the new releases and big grosses for the limited debuts of the brilliant Oscar contenders The Impossible and Zero Dark Thirty, head to Box Office Mojo here. Then, check out the new top ten below.
| TW | LW | Title (click to view) | Studio | Weekend Gross | % Change | Theater Count /Change | Average | Total Gross | Budget* | Week # | |
| 1 | 1 | The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey | WB | $36,705,000 | -56.6% | 4,100 | +55 | $8,952 | $149,858,000 | – | 2 |
| 2 | N | Jack Reacher | Par. | $15,600,000 | – | 3,352 | – | $4,654 | $15,600,000 | $60 | 1 |
| 3 | N | This Is 40 | Uni. | $12,031,000 | – | 2,912 | – | $4,132 | $12,031,000 | $35 | 1 |
| 4 | 2 | Rise of the Guardians | P/DW | $5,900,000 | -17.4% | 3,031 | -356 | $1,947 | $79,694,000 | $145 | 5 |
| 5 | 3 | Lincoln | BV | $5,633,000 | -19.9% | 2,293 | +8 | $2,457 | $116,781,000 | $65 | 7 |
| 6 | N | The Guilt Trip | Par. | $5,390,000 | – | 2,431 | – | $2,217 | $7,421,000 | $40 | 1 |
| 7 | N | Monsters, Inc. (3D) | BV | $5,040,000 | – | 2,618 | – | $1,925 | $6,525,000 | – | 1 |
| 8 | 4 | Skyfall | Sony | $4,700,000 | -28.3% | 2,365 | -559 | $1,987 | $279,972,000 | $200 | 7 |
| 9 | 5 | Life of Pi | Fox | $3,800,000 | -29.8% | 1,750 | -798 | $2,171 | $76,156,000 | $120 | 5 |
| 10 | 6 | The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 | Sum. | $2,600,000 | -49.4% | 2,000 | -1,042 | $1,300 | $281,606,000 | $120 | 6 |
Jason in Hollywoodland 