Box Office Report: 'Zero Dark Thirty' Soars in New York and Los Angeles

Kathryn Bigelow's high-profile Zero Dark Thirty is off to a strong start at the holiday box office, even as Washington lawmakers take it to task.

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Opening on Wednesday in five theaters in New York and Los Angeles, the film was No. 1 in all five locations by late afternoon, pacing ahead of films including Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

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Box-office observers expect Zero Dark Thirty to score an impressive opening-day theater average of roughly $34,000, well ahead of the $9,000 or $10,000 that Sony was expecting.

Sony is handling the domestic release of the film, which chronicles the CIA's decade-long hunt for Osama bin Laden and the Navy SEALs raid that led to his death. An awards front-runner, Zero Dark Thirty was financed by Megan Ellison's Annapurna Pictures.

Just as the critically acclaimed film was hitting theaters, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators sent a letter Wednesday to Sony calling the picture “grossly inaccurate and misleading” for suggesting that intelligence obtained through torture played a role in locating bin Laden.

Senate Intelligence Committee chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and the other lawmakers signing the letter want the studio to add a disclaimer on the film.

Bigelow and Zero Dark Thirty screenwriter Mark Boal -- the team behind The Hurt Locker -- have said people are misinterpreting the torture scenes in the film.

Zero Dark Thirty expands nationwide Jan. 11.

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Opening everywhere Wednesday were Barbra Streisand-Seth Rogen comedy The Guilt Trip and Disney/Pixar's 3D rerelease of Monsters, Inc. -- the first of eight nationwide Christmas releases.

Guilt Trip, from Paramount, is struggling out of the gate. Directed by Anne Fletcher, it is expected to gross $1 million on Wednesday for a five-day opening in the $7 million-to-$8.5 million range.

Paramount was anticipating a slow start but is hoping the film enjoys the strong multiples possible during the year-end holidays, when a film ultimately can gross six to eight times its opening number. In 2007, Warner Bros.' comedy P.S. I Love You opened to $6.5 million over the Dec. 21-23 weekend. The film cumed $53.7 million, an eight multiple; usually, a four multiple is considered good.

Guilt Trip marks Streisand's first lead role since The Mirror Has Two Faces in 1996. The movie, which has received poor reviews, cost $40 million to produce.

Monsters, Inc. has a shot at beating Guilt Trip on Wednesday and is eyeing a five-day debut in the $12 million to $15 million range.

Hobbit, which crossed the $100 million mark Tuesday, its fifth day in domestic release, easily will come in No. 1 on Wednesday.