After the premiere, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was released in nearly sixty countries and regions, including North America. As many media outlets put it, Peter Jackson was leading his army back to their homeland. This return was destined to be a massive financial success.
The film opened in over 3,100 theaters in North America, earning $13.9 million from Thursday night previews, breaking the record for the best December preview box office in history.
By Friday, the film expanded to 4,050 theaters, claiming the North American Friday box office crown with $37.5 million, shattering the December record for first-day earnings.
While the film's pacing felt somewhat slow and gave the impression of being overly long, the influence of Middle-earth and The Lord of the Rings trilogy provided a substantial boost. Crucially, audience reception for An Unexpected Journey remained positive. CinemaScore audiences rated the film an "A," with viewers under 18 giving it an "A+," demonstrating the film's strong family appeal.
CinemaScore's forecasts suggested the movie would have healthy and steady box office growth, with a strong potential for sustained ticket sales.
With the support of IMAX, 3D, and the heightened expectations from its predecessor trilogy, the new installment got off to an excellent start at the box office. While attendance numbers weren't record-breaking, the higher ticket prices for IMAX and 3D showings kept revenue at impressive levels.
On Saturday, the film earned another $27.73 million in North America, slightly increasing from Friday (excluding preview earnings). The steady trend indicated a healthy trajectory for the film.
Everything pointed to one conclusion: as a prequel to The Lord of the Rings, An Unexpected Journey successfully brought audiences back to the sweeping, mesmerizing world of Middle-earth.
Moreover, the film utilized cutting-edge 3D and 48-frame-per-second high-frame-rate technology to present an even more vivid and lifelike fantasy world on screen. Once again, Peter Jackson solidified his status as a leading figure in the fantasy genre.
The release of The Hobbit reignited a storm of excitement for fantasy films.
Since the early 2000s, Hollywood's fantasy genre had thrived. Despite numerous flops, there were consistent box office triumphs, with The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter series standing as the genre's definitive successes.
Even films like The Chronicles of Narnia, Alice in Wonderland, and Pirates of the Caribbean were grouped under the fantasy category by Hollywood.
Fantasy films had never been as glorious as they were in the new millennium.
Drawing on his experiences starring in the Pirates of the Caribbean series and investing in The Hobbit, Matthew analyzed the reasons for this from his perspective.
A crucial factor was the genre's reliance on technology.
Fantasy films are more dependent on pure visual effects than science fiction.
To bring an imaginary world—one that previously only existed in text or illustrations—to life on the big screen, cutting-edge technology was indispensable. Over the past decade, rapid advancements in CGI made it possible to craft lifelike fantasy worlds for audiences, turning these visions into reality.
As a result, audiences were treated to fantastical spectacles in films like The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Golden Compass. These films showcased a plethora of magical effects and vibrant life forms.
At its core, modern fantasy cinema operates as a spectacle-driven visual experience. With the aid of digital effects, the fantasy worlds constructed on-screen have become increasingly dazzling, grand, and eye-catching, naturally attracting large audiences. After all, most moviegoers enter theaters seeking sensory entertainment.
Perhaps this explanation sounds too commercialized, even lacking in sophistication.
To address this, Matthew crafted a more refined and "highbrow" interpretation.
As modern civilization becomes more advanced, people increasingly feel repressed by the cold, concrete jungles of the modern world. They long to escape and embrace nature. Fantasy films satisfy this psychological yearning to a great extent, with their enchanting on-screen worlds resembling the "paradises" people imagine. Wandering through these realms naturally evokes a sense of psychological delight.
Avatar, though a sci-fi blockbuster, garnered widespread praise and captivated audiences with the breathtaking landscapes of Pandora, which belonged more to the fantasy genre. The same principle applies here.
Unfortunately, due to timing and personal career development, Matthew missed the opportunity to invest in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. While his current investment in The Hobbit series was yielding good results, it couldn't quite match The Lord of the Rings in every aspect.
Both media and audience acclaim for The Hobbit fell short of the levels reached by The Lord of the Rings.
To Matthew, this outcome was entirely expected.
After all, The Hobbit was fundamentally different from The Lord of the Rings. The latter was an epic trilogy of monumental scope, holding a pivotal place in the history of Western fantasy literature. In contrast, The Hobbit was a single, relatively thin volume.
Where The Lord of the Rings was grand, stirring, and epic, The Hobbit felt more like a whimsical fairy tale adventure.
But for Matthew, the box office was his primary focus.
While box office success isn't everything, it directly impacts a film's revenue across its entire lifecycle.
It's clear that no investor can afford to disregard box office performance.
And on this front, The Hobbit did not disappoint Matthew or the other investors. During its opening weekend in North America, the film launched in 4,045 theaters, achieving a stellar per-theater average of $20,958 and grossing $84.77 million.
This result far exceeded the opening weekends of the The Lord of the Rings trilogy (the highest being The Return of the King in 2004, which opened with $72.62 million). It also broke the record for the highest December opening weekend in history.
Unsurprisingly, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey easily outperformed competitors like Steven Spielberg's Lincoln and Ang Lee's Life of Pi, claiming the top spot on the North American box office charts.
Lincoln and Life of Pi, both of which expanded their releases earlier in December, had limited appeal. Their steady but unspectacular box office runs saw them earn $7.24 million and $5.4 million, respectively, placing third and fourth for the weekend.
In second place was The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, which added $7.68 million to its North American total that weekend.
By this point, Breaking Dawn – Part 2 had surpassed the $300 million mark domestically, with a total of $302.56 million.
The North American box office charts also showcased a unique phenomenon: four films Matthew had invested in occupied spots in the top ten!
In addition to The Hobbit and Twilight, American Sniper grossed $2.39 million to claim ninth place, while The Conjuring earned $2.71 million, taking eighth place.
Both films' cumulative grosses were equally impressive. American Sniper had surpassed $400 million domestically, while The Conjuring was heading toward $150 million.
As the Los Angeles Times put it: "This week's North American box office charts prove why Matthew Horner is hailed not only as a superstar but also as a golden investor and producer!"
Online discussions buzzed with commentary:
"Matthew Horner is an absolute winner in the film industry!"
"It feels like even Jerry Bruckheimer at his peak couldn't achieve what Matthew's doing."
"As an individual, Matthew Horner is undoubtedly Hollywood's number one."
"Let me bow down to this life winner. It seems like Matthew Horner started with way less than I did…"
Comments like these flooded the internet, reflecting envy, admiration, and resentment toward Matthew from various corners of society.
Thankfully, Matthew had never crafted a public persona as a "life winner." Otherwise, the pressure to maintain such an image would have been overwhelming.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey wasn't just a North American success; it was also raking in cash worldwide.
Released simultaneously in 56 overseas markets, the film earned $138.2 million internationally during its opening weekend, bringing its global total to over $223 million. This allowed it to claim the top spot on the global box office charts, surpassing Life of Pi, which was also in wide international release.
While Life of Pi was performing well, with nearly $120 million earned outside North America, its international success was heavily skewed toward a single market.
Ang Lee's status as an acclaimed Chinese director and the influence of his previous films, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Lust, Caution, made him especially popular across the Pacific. More than 65% of Life of Pi's international earnings came from that region alone.
It was evident that the film market across the Pacific was expanding rapidly, with the potential to singlehandedly support mid-tier, major productions.
Meanwhile, American Sniper and Breaking Dawn – Part 2 continued their overseas runs.
The former's global box office total approached $700 million, while the latter easily crossed the $600 million mark.
Both films still had room to grow in their respective markets.
By contrast, The Conjuring, constrained by its genre, had a more limited market. Its revenue potential was diminishing, and it was beginning to show signs of decline.
Even so, the film had grossed an impressive $368.71 million globally.
Without a doubt, this was an incredibly bountiful year for Matthew.
His investments continued to dominate the box office. Upon returning to Los Angeles, Matthew planned to stay put for the next few months. Apart from
discussing roles for Interstellar with Christopher Nolan, he would focus on attending events hosted by the Academy to help his friend Michael Fassbender promote Steve Jobs. At the same time, he kept a close watch on Harvey Weinstein and The Weinstein Company, waiting for the perfect opportunity to act.
What Matthew didn't expect was that he wouldn't need to make the first move. Harvey Weinstein, still bitter about losing out on The Hobbit investment years ago, came charging out on his own.
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