So The Hobbit didn’t get the greatest reviews, with many critics finding it somewhat drawn out.
Not to mention many fans accused Peter Jackson of going for a cash grab by cutting the story in three parts instead of doing it as one film. But you knew no matter what the fans would be there in droves, and The Hobbit has been doing phenomenal business all over the world.
Now Deadline confirms that The Hobbit has actually outgrossed two films from the Lord of the Rings series, the first two movies in the series actually, The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. As Deadline and Box Office Mojo report, The Hobbit has made just a little under a billion worldwide, $939,623,831 exactly, and the foreign box office has been a big part of it, 69% actually.
The biggest one in the series is still Return of the King, no surprise because it’s the best of the series, and it made $1,119,110,941 worldwide. Meanwhile, Fellowship made $869,349,688 and Two Towers made $923,285,627. So don’t be surprised if the Hobbit, or one of the next chapters to come, eventually becomes #1 on the list.
In the States, The Hobbit has made $293 million domestic so far, and it also made $100 million in five days in the States. Once The Hobbit hits home video it should also continue to rake in a ton of dough this year. In addition, Variety speculates that at this rate it should finally hit the billion mark by March, which should be a pretty easy milestone to reach.)
So whether you love it or hate it, The Hobbit’s going to keep raking in the big bucks, and we’ve still got more Hobbit to come with the next chapter, The Desolation of Smaug on December 13, 2013, and the last chapter, There and Back Again, on July 18, 2014. It’s amazing how long the Lord of the Rings series has continued to thrill fans all over the world, but a great classic like this that’s been the template for so many good vs. evil stories should keep going for hundreds of years. Indeed, maybe a century from now a young director who hasn’t even been born yet will be rebooting them too.
