The dwarfs and elves of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" prevailed at the North American box office again over the weekend, as its $32.9 million in ticket sales topped both the star-packed musical "Les Miserables" and the western "Django Unchained."

Despite surging past "The Hobbit" on Christmas day with an $18.1 million opening, "Les Miz" managed only third place in U.S. and Canadian sales with $28 million as Christmas shoppers returned from the malls to boost Hollywood's box office, according to studio estimates.

"The Hobbit," in its third week of release, has now grossed $222.7 million domestically, Warner Bros said.

Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained," a western starring Jamie Fox as a slave turned bounty hunter, took second with an impressive $30.7 million.

Tom Cruise's crime drama "Jack Reacher," which features author Lee Child's former military investigator solving a fatal sniper attack, landed in fifth with $14 million, outpaced by "Parental Guidance," the Billy Crystal-Bette Midler as grandparents comedy which took in $14.8 million to nab fourth.

Chris Aronson, president of domestic distribution for Fox, said the "Parental Guidance" performance was "just a tremendous result for our little engine that could."

Backed by a musical score that made it a Broadway icon, "Les Miz" surged past "The Hobbit" on Christmas day, collecting $18.1 million to pass "High School Musical 3: Senior Year" with the biggest midweek opening day by a musical.

But it was not enough to conquer the "Hobbit" juggernaut, which scored its third straight box office weekend win.

Universal's president for domestic distribution Nikki Rocco called the "Les Miz" $28 million take "phenomenal, especially considering we went into the weekend with $40 million," an unexpectedly strong figure for its first few days in release.

"People really love this movie, which is even more rewarding and gratifying," Rocco said.

"Les Miserables," which stars Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe and Anne Hathaway, benefited from Oscar buzz and its star power, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Hollywood.com's box office division, who said he wouldn't be surprised to see the musical pass $200 million before it's done.

That would put it among the Hollywood's Top 20 best-selling musicals. It would pass the 1972 film "Cabaret," which grossed $191 million in box office sales adjusted for higher ticket prices, and put it close to "Camelot," which sold $204.5 million in 1967, according to the web site the-numbers.com.

The most successful musical is "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," which grossed more than $6.3 billion but has been re-released by Walt Disney nine times since its 1937 premiere, according to the site.

A rush of high-profile films in December is expected to push 2012 to a domestic box office record. The current record is $10.6 billion, set in 2009.

"Jack Reacher" debuted just days after the Newtown, Conn., school shooting sparked new debate about the impact of movie violence. "Reacher" begins with a sniper killing a handful of seemingly random victims. A red-carpet premiere and a screening to promote the $60-million production were postponed after the Dec. 14 Newtown tragedy.

Adult comedy "This is 40" starring Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann as a middle-aged couple was sixth with $13.2 million. The Judd Apatow $35 million film totaled $37 million after two weeks. The seventh spot went to Steven Spielberg's historical film "Lincoln," with $7.5 million for a $132 million domestic total.

Comedy "The Guilt Trip," starring Barbra Streisand and Seth Rogen as a mother and son on a cross-country drive, pulled in $6.7 million for eighth.

Also this week the latest James Bond hit "Skyfall" topped $1 billion in worldwide sales, despite falling out of the week's top 10 films at the box office.

"The Hobbit" was distributed by Time Warner Inc's Warner Bros studio. Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc released, "Jack Reacher" and "The Guilt Trip." Comcast Corp's Universal Studios released "Les Miserables" and "This is 40." "Django Unchained" was released in the United States by the Weinstein Company.

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The big-budget "Hobbit" fantasy movie ruled movie box office charts for a second straight weekend, fending off Hollywood heavyweight Tom Cruise in new crime drama "Jack Reacher." 

"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" hauled in nearly $37 million from theaters in the United States and Canada, according to studio estimates of Friday-through-Sunday ticket sales. The film is the first of three movies based on the classic J.R.R. Tolkien novel about a world of dwarfs, elves and dragons in the fictitious Middle Earth.

In second place, Cruise's "Jack Reacher" about the investigation into a sniper shooting brought in just short of $17 million at U.S. and Canadian theaters. Distributor Paramount Pictures postponed a premiere of the film after the fatal school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, sparked new scrutiny of violent movies.

Adult comedy "This is 40," starring Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann as a middle-aged couple, brought in $12 million, finishing in third place.

"The Hobbit" was distributed by Time Warner Inc's Warner Bros. studio. Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc, released "Jack Reacher." Comcast Corp's Universal Pictures distributed "This is 40."

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Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

REVIEW: The subtitle of this first of three "Hobbit" movies is "An Unexpected Journey." It's right there in the title! We know Bilbo Baggins is going on a journey! So why, then, does it take so long to get started?

After a brief explanation of how the film's dwarves lost their home to Smaug the dragon, we're reintroduced to the bucolic Shire and to Bilbo, kinsman of Frodo from "Lord of the Rings."

Bilbo (Martin Freeman) is content living his middle-aged hairy-footed Hobbity life, but adventure, in the form of Gandalf the wizard (Ian McKellen) and his band of rowdy dwarves, knocks and won't leave. It's here that the movie turns into a bizarrely drawn-out farce, where the dwarves run roughshod over Bilbo's tidy home, eating everything in sight, having burping contests, and playing Frisbee and hacky-sack with his mother's china. It's "Animal House Goes to Middle Earth!"

The first third of the nearly three-hour movie feels a bit like a children's TV special, thanks not just to the slapsticky dwarves, but to the way in which it's shot. It's the first major movie projected at 48 frames per second, rather than the usual 24. (Not all theaters can show the film that way, so you may not see this version.) It makes the images seem bright and unnervingly fake, a weirdly jarring result that is supposed to suck you into the film, but often just reminds you that you're watching one.

There's no real reason for Bilbo to abandon his safe Shire life to go adventuring, but it's in the script, so he does. And then the film settles into a groove, as the ragged little company meet up with mountain trolls, goblins, demonic wolves and more, with Gandalf and other members of the group, namely, leader Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), filling in little pieces of the story as we go.

The most compelling of the confrontations comes when Bilbo meets up with Gollum, the creepy big-eyed ring-loving creature fans will remember from "Lord of the Rings." They play an abbreviated version of the book's riddle game, which goes on slightly too long but should satisfy book purists. (The actors could have used some enunciation lessons here though -- one riddle's answer is so slurred that even when it's repeated, it's unintelligible.)

"The Hobbit" is no "Lord of the Rings." It is a simpler, much shorter book meant for children, and there's a sense throughout this first film that this was forgotten, and that director Peter Jackson wanted to stretch it out into a darker, longer tale. There's much too much, for example, of wizard Radagast the Brown, a nature-loving simpleton who's only mentioned once in the book.

But the Tolkien films are not unlike the "Twilight" movies. If this is your world, if these are the books you cherished, here is your long-awaited gift -- your beloved and familiar characters larger than life. If you're not a devotee but want a good adventure -- well, maybe the second and third films will bring more of that. This first offering is decidedly a mixed bag.

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In the case of Hobbit vs. Hobbit, "Hobbit" wins. (Yeah, that's pretty confusing, but you'll understand in a moment.) A California federal judge has granted Warner Bros.' motion for a temporary restraining order on "Age of the Hobbits," indie film company Asylum's low-budget rip-off of Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," which hits theaters Dec. 14, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

"The majority of factors weigh in favor of a finding of likelihood of confusion, and no factor weighs against such a finding," Judge Philip Gutierrez said in the ruling Monday.

What we learned about "The Hobbit" from the National Board of Review Awards

"Moreover, the finding is particularly strong on the three factors that courts have found to be the most important, especially in the context of the Internet: similarity of the marks, relatedness of the goods and use of similar marketing channels."

Producers of "The Hobbit" filed the lawsuit last month, accusing them of creating a "knockoff" movie based on J.R.R. Tolkien's epic fantasy novel and infringing on their trademark on the word hobbits.

Asylum's lawyers fired back, claiming their use of hobbits is fair, since it references a term used by archaeologists, not the Tolkien character, but the judge wasn't having it.

"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" world premiere arrivals

"Asylum's argument appears to ignore the connection between the term used to describe Homo Floresiensis and Tolkien's hobbits," the judge writes. "Asylum treats the use of the two terms as completely unrelated, but the terms are in fact closely related: Scientists gave Homo Floresiensis the nickname 'Hobbit' because its appearance resembled Tolkien's hobbits, as described in his novels.... Given that Homo Floresiensis received the nickname 'Hobbit' specifically because of its resemblance to Tolkien's fictional hobbits, the Court finds Asylum's argument that its movie is wholly unrelated to Tolkien's work because it is about Homo Floresiensis to be disingenuous."

"Age of the Hobbits," a film about a "last village of clever, peace-loving Hobbits ... attacked and enslaved by Java Men, komodo-worshiping, dragon-riding cannibals," was scheduled to release tomorrow.

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It's here: The first of three films based on J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" lands in theaters this week. If you're not interested in returning to Middle-Earth, there's a fun kids' movie on home video and an engrossing Beatles documentary on PBS.

TUESDAY: 'Ice Age: Continental Drift'
Pirates, wooly mammoths, and more, oh my. The fourth "Ice Age" movie is no "Toy Story," but it's still a fun romp for kids who love the prehistoric beasts. In this one, Manny the mammoth gets separated from his wife and daughter as the continents do their infamous crack-up. Thankfully, he's surrounded by pals, including Sid the sloth and Diego the saber-toothed tiger, as he tries to reunite with his family. Oh, and Scrat the saber-toothed squirrel is still hunting that acorn. (On home video Dec. 11.)

FRIDAY: 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey'
If you named your son Thorin, have a wedding-ring inscription done in Elvish, or flunked out of college because you spent so many hours hand-painting your D&D orc character, you've been looking forward to this one for a while now. Peter Jackson has returned to Middle-Earth with the first of three films from J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit." Three films made more sense with the "Lord of the Rings," which was a three-volume work anyway -- but breaking Bilbo Baggins' journey into three films means more hours to savor for fans, more money for the studios. In "Unexpected Journey," unassuming Hobbit Bilbo gets recruited for the journey of a lifetime and sets off on his hairy feet, with plenty of familiar characters (Gandalf, yay! Gollum, yuck!) to see him through. (Opens Dec. 14.)

FRIDAY: "Magical Mystery Tour Revisited'
Roll up, and that's an invitation! The Beatles' 1967 film, "Magical Mystery Tour," perplexed many of even the band's most devoted fans. Surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr were among those who were interviewed for this look at the controversial and surreal film that many Beatlemaniacs have still never seen. After "Revisited" airs on "Great Performances," a fully restored version of the film itself will be shown. (Dec. 14, 9 p.m., PBS.)

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Thanks for the early gifts, Hollywood! November was a magical movie month ("Skyfall," "Lincoln") and December is shaping up much the same way -- some great cinema offerings are out there, if you can take a break from shopping and cookie-baking or family-visiting. Here's a look at our top picks.

DEC. 14:
'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey'
Those furry-footed guys are back again. Bless you, J.R.R. Tolkien, for being so prolific that we can not only get three movies out of the "Lord of the Rings," but three more out of the much shorter "Hobbit." (Will "The Silmarillion" be next?)  "Unexpected Journey" begins the saga as Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf head off to the Lonely Mountain on a quest of their own. Plenty of familiar faces from "LOTR" are back for the ride.

DEC. 19

'Monsters Inc.' in 3-D
It's been more than a decade since Pixar monsters Mike and Sulley trotted onto the scene in 2001's "Monsters Inc." Now that treasured animated film is getting the 3-D treatment, and even kids who weren't born when the movie came out can now see the "Monsters" on the big screen. If they like what they see, start counting down to June 21, when the prequel, "Monsters University," will come out.

'This Is 40'

They could have called it "Knocked Up 2: Electric Boogaloo." The "Knocked Up" sequel, "This Is 40," reunites us with Paul Rudd (Pete) and Leslie Mann (Debbie)  as they fight their way through their 40s. If you like director/writer Judd Apatow's sense of humor and his family (Mann is his wife in real life, and their daughters play Mann and Rudd's daughters onscreen), you'll be knocking on this one's door. ("Bridesmaids" fans, Melissa McCarthy steals her scene in the trailer.)

'Zero Dark Thirty'

We'll never know exactly what went down on May 2, 2011, when Navy SEALs burst into Osama bin Laden's Abbottabad, Pakistan, compound and killed the world's most wanted terrorist. But "Zero Dark Thirty" may give us as good a shot as any. Director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal won Oscars for "The Hurt Locker," so if you appreciated that well-crafted war film, you know to expect a classy production here.

DEC. 21
'Jack Reacher'
Whatever you think of his personal life and various tabloid headlines, Tom Cruise has developed from a young "Risky Business" and "Top Gun" heartthrob into a credible action hero. ("Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol" proved that.) He's now taking on the book-favorite character of Jack Reacher, author Lee Child's stoic, drifter hero. (One weird note: Reacher is noted in the books as being 6'5" while Cruise is ... not.) If the film's a hit, Child has more than a dozen more Reacher books that could be mined. 

 

DEC. 25
'Django Unchained'
Oh, a Quentin Tarantino movie. It will surely open quietly in a few arthouse theaters and no one will see -- ha, just kidding. The iconic director has lined up big stars (Leonardo DiCaprio, Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Christoph Waltz), an intriguing story line, and his trademark over-the-top blood-splattering and smart dialogue. In "Django Unchained," Foxx plays a freed slave who hooks up with a white bounty hunter (the wonderfully creepy Waltz) in hopes of reuniting with his wife, who's been sold. It opens on Christmas Day. Happy holidays, Merry Christmas, peace on earth, now pass a bit of the old ultra-violence.

'Les Miserables' 
Hollywood's pulling out all the stops for this one. Legendary novel. Powerhouse Broadway musical. Star-studded cast. Christmas Day release. If you've dreamed a dream while seeing "Les Mis" in a theater, or even if you've just been sucked in by a wasting-away Anne Hathaway in the trailer, or even if you enjoyed George Costanza singing "Master of the House" on "Seinfeld," this is your big present. Russell Crowe even joins Hathaway, Hugh Jackman, Amanda Seyfried and the rest in song.

 

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If you've been impatiently combing the Internet for every last bit of news about Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" which hits theaters Dec. 14, here's something concrete at last. You'll be able to buy advance tickets to the first film of the planned trilogy starting this Wednesday, Warner Bros. announced in a press release.

Tickets will go on sale online beginning at noon Eastern, and once theaters open on Wednesday, you'll also be able to buy advance tickets at certain locations.

"We’re expecting a big result as we start the journey for all 3 films," a Warner Bros. executive told Deadline.com.

If "The Hobbit" isn't enough Tolkien for you, as of Wednesday, you can also buy tickets to marathon screenings of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. You can park yourself at a theater on Saturday, Dec. 8, or Sunday, Dec. 9, for those three-movie days. These are the extended-cut versions of all three films, so you may want to pass on the extra-large Icee.

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Peter Jackson's film adaptation of "The Hobbit" will be split into three movies, the director and the studios behind the venture said on Monday.

Jackson said that given the richness of the story -- which is set 60 years before "The Lord of The Rings" -- he decided after wrapping up shooting recently in New Zealand that what was originally planned as two movies would now be a trilogy.

"I'm delighted that New Line, MGM and Warner Bros. are equally enthusiastic about bringing fans this expansive tale across three films," Jackson said in a statement.

"It has been an unexpected journey indeed, and in the words of Professor Tolkien himself, 'a tale that grew in the telling'," Jackson said in a statement on his Facebook site.

"The Hobbit," written by J.R.R. Tolkien, is the prequel to the British author's epic fantasy "The Lord of the Rings," which Jackson made into three Oscar-winning films about 10 years ago.

A spokesman for New Line said the third "Hobbit" film would be released in the summer of 2014. The first two "Hobbit" movies, starring British actor Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins, have already been announced for release in December 2012 and December 2013.

"It is only at the end of a shoot that you finally get the chance to sit down and have a look at the film you have made," Jackson said on his Facebook page.

"We know how much of the story of Bilbo Baggins, the Wizard Gandalf, the Dwarves of Erebor, the rise of the Necromancer, and the Battle of Dol Guldur will remain untold if we do not take this chance," he added.

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Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Director Peter Jackson took loyal fans at Comic-Con on a journey back to Middle Earth on Saturday with footage of his upcoming film fantasy "The Hobbit," calling the new epic "made by fans, for fans."

Many die-hard loyalists from Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" series waited overnight at the giant pop culture showcase in San Diego to attend a panel where Jackson was joined by actors Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, script writer Philippa Boyens and surprise guest Elijah Wood.

The panel opened with a 15-minute behind-the-scenes video featuring interviews with the cast and crew as well as footage from scenes featuring explosions and fights, which the audience welcomed with deafening screams.

McKellen, who plays wizard Gandalf, earned a standing ovation as he came on stage for the panel.

Another 12-minute clip showed scenes from the film, including how hobbit Bilbo Baggins joined 13 dwarves on a quest to rescue a lost dwarf kingdom from the clutches of evil dragon Smaug, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, and Bilbo's life-changing meeting with Serkis' Gollum, whose "precious" ring was the subject of the "Rings" trilogy.

"Rings" characters Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) and Legolas (Orlando Bloom) also return, and the clips introduced a new female character, Tauriel played by Evangeline Lilly, who was not part of the books, but Boyens assured fans she stayed true to Tolkien's characters.

Wood, who shot to fame as Frodo Baggins in the "Rings" trilogy had yet to see any footage of the film and joined the audience in their enthusiasm. The trilogy - "The Fellowship of the Ring," "The Two Towers" and "Return of the King" - earned $2.9 billion at the worldwide box office and won 17 Academy awards.

"I was blown away, extraordinary, the footage was incredible but it has these emotional moments, and that's at the heart of what Peter does," said Wood. "It's beautiful. I was made to feel emotional watching that footage."

British actor Freeman, who plays the reluctant hobbit hero Bilbo Baggins, said the director and old "Rings" cast welcomed him warmly to the new film, relieving any worries he may have had about playing such a well-known literary character.

"I honestly didn't feel a huge amount of pressure," said Freeman. "I had to find my way into it. I didn't just fall into the character of Bilbo. Peter and I had to develop that together ... but I wasn't intimidated."

Serkis, who returned to play Gollum in "The Hobbit," was also brought on as a second-unit director for the film, an experience which he said was "a dream to behold."

"It was a remarkable and extraordinary experience - one for working with Martin, it was great to work opposite him, and then I began a process of jumping into the director's chair. ... It was a huge film education for me, enabled by the greatest mentor possible. Peter's been an immense part of my life for the last 12 years," Serkis said.

"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" is the first of a two-part prequel adapted by director Jackson from J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit," the prelude to his epic fantasy trilogy "Lord Of The Rings." The film is due in theaters on December 14.

The story begins with hobbit Bilbo Baggins, who embarks on a quest through the treacherous Middle Earth, forming relationships with characters like Gandalf, warrior Thorin Oakenshield (Armitage) and Gollum.

Veteran actor McKellen, who also played Gandalf in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, told reporters ahead of the panel that he was happy to reprise his character.

"It was lovely to be back in New Zealand with the people who make the films, many of whom were on 'Lord of The Rings' 13 years ago, so it's been a little bit like going home," McKellen said.

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Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Showing Tolkien fans "The Hobbit" trailer is like dangling a choice Christmas present in front of their eyes for two minutes and thirty seconds and then snatching it away for another year.

We're going back to Middle Earth, and it's gorgeous once again. Fans are already raving about the trailer's sneak peek back into the magical world, even though the movie won't hit theaters until Dec. 14, 2012.

It may be blasphemy, but as a reader, I preferred "The Hobbit" to "Lord of the Rings." Maybe it was because I read it as a kid and it seems to be the simpler, lighter, more kid-friendly read. But that's not meant to dismiss it -- it's every bit as compelling a tale and as fascinating a world, and the movie looks to satisfy and delight fans just like the "LOTR" trilogy did.

What do you think of the trailer? Tell us in the comments.

 

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