Box Office Report: Peter Jackson's 'The Hobbit' Scores Record $84.8 Million Weekend

New Line and MGM's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey kicked off the holiday season in high style, opening to $84.8 million, the top three-day opening of all time for the month of December.

The first in Peter Jackson's planned trilogy, Hobbit opened to $138.2 million overseas for a worldwide total of $223 million. The movie came in ahead The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2003 ($125.9 million).

In North America, Will Smith's I Am Legend previously held the record for best December opening with $77.2 million on the same weekend in 2007.

Hobbit received an A CinemaScore from moviegoers, portending good word-of-mouth. Warner Bros., which owns New Line, is distributing the 3D fantasy adventure, which could earn as much as four times its opening weekend gross through New Year's Day (Christmas films can have especially strong multiples).

Hobbit -- based on J. R. R. Tolkien's 1937 novel and set 60 years before the events chronicled in The Lord of the Rings -- played older, with 58 percent of the audience over 25. Males made up 57 percent of those buying tickets, while younger moviegoers gave the epic an A+ CinemaScore.

"It is great to see Peter's fans return, along with a new generation of that is embracing Middle-earth," Warners president of domestic distribution Dan Fellman said. "We expect a long and exciting run."

Return of the King, opening on Dec. 17, 2003, a Wednesday, posted a five-day domestic debut of $124.1 million, including a weekend opening of roughly $72 million.

Imax theaters, the favorite locale of fanboys, made up the top 10 locations for Hobbit, with the 326 giant-screen sites generating $10.1 million in ticket for a location average of $31,000. Imax theaters playing the film in the 48 frames-per-second format drew particularly strong numbers, averaging $44,000 per location.

Imax also saw big business overseas, where 126 locations turned in $5 million for a per screen average of $40,000 and setting a December record.

Overall, only 49 percent of the opening-weekend domestic gross came from 3D screens, including from all theaters that played the film in the higher frame rate.

Starring Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins and returning Ian McKellen in the role of the wizard Gandalf form Jackson's Lord of the Rings films, Hobbit is the first in a planned trilogy.

Elsewhere, awards contenders Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook both saw a boost from their Golden Globe nominations.