With no real new competition, “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” came in an expected first place at the nation’s movie box office with a strong  gross of $84.8million. That figure set a record for the largest December weekend opening, topping the $77.2 million of the previous record-holder, “I Am Legend”  in 2007. However, when taking into consideration inflation and the higher cost of movie tickets, the new record isn’t quite as impressive.

“Rise of the Guardians,” the appealing animated feature now in its 4th week, came in 2nd place with $7.4 million

Steve Spielberg’s ”Lincoln,” a top Oscar contender in multiple categories, was in 3rd spot with $7.2 million, giving it a total of $107.9 million for 6 weeks.

The James Bond film “Skyfall” starring Daniel Craig finished 4th for the weekend with $7 million giving it a whopping $272.4 million in North America for 6 weeks. Worldwide, “Skyfall” is going to be a billion dollar hit. “Life of Pi” came in 5th with $5.4 million. For the balance of the numbers for this weekend’s movie box office, click on the link below.

Barbra Streisand returns to the big screen next weekend with co-star Seth Rogen in a road comedy about family issues, “The Guilt Trip.”

Remaining major titles coming between now and Christmas include “Les Miserable,” “Monster Inc, 3D,” “Jack Reacher, “Django Unchained,” “Zero Dark Thirty,” “This Is 40″ and “Parental Guidance.” “Zero Dark Thirty,” which is about the mission to capture Osama bin Laden, seems to be a late dark horse for best picture at the Oscars.

http://www.boxoffice.com/statistics/bo_numbers/studio_estimate/2012-12-16