The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies scored the biggest opening day of the year across 8 of its first 11 markets on Wednesday. The final part in the Hobbit trilogy capped of its overseas premiere with $11.3 million.
IMAX contributed $289k from 21 runs for a per-screen average of $14,185. Top performing IMAX sites include the Pathe Spuimarkt in The Hague (Netherlands) with $27,268; Cineplexx IMAX Donauplex 13 in Vienna (Austria) with $22,388; and the Potsdamer Platz in Berlin (Germany) with $20,019.
Germany has always been a loyal market for the franchise and its opening days numbers did not disappoint this time around after securing the biggest opening day of the year. The latest Hobbit film grossed $2.6 million with 245k admissions across 1,442 screens, including €550k in Tuesday midnight showings. The premiere figures outgross the latest Transformers film by 47% and the most recent Hunger Games title by 86% in the market. Five Armies captured 81% of the top 5 market share and is already outperforming An Unexpected Journey by 66% and is 4% ahead of Desolation of Smaug. The previous two installments of the franchise opened on a Thursday.
France reported a $2.7 million opening haul with 277.5k admissions across 914 screens, capturing 63% of the top 5 market share. Preview screenings put the film up to $2.8 million with 282k tickets sold.
Five Armies also fared well as it opened in Sweden ($1.5M on 443 screens), Norway ($1.03M on 311 screens), the Netherlands ($638k on approximately 220 screens), and Finland ($499k on 195 screens). Thursday previews in New Zealand sold out across 105 screens over 55 locations, taking in $141k.
The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies will roll out on more than 14,000 screens in 37 territories this weekend. The film opens in 17 territories on Thursday, including Russia, Brazil, Mexico and New Zealand. Friday sees an expansion to 8 more territories, including the United Kingdom. The film will be released in Japan on Saturday.
South Korea, Italy, and Spain will debut on December 17. China is slated to premiere the film on January 23, 2015.
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