Holiday Box Office: ‘Django’ Almost Catches Up With ‘Hobbit’ on New Year’s Day

Quentin Tarantino‘s Django Unchained almost matched Peter Jackson‘s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey on New Year’s Day, grossing $9.2 million versus $9.5 million for Hobbit.

Hobbit, Django and Tom Hooper‘s Les Miserables are the big winners of the year-end holidays among the nine nationwide releases opening during the final two weeks of 2012.

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From New Line and MGM, Hobbit has stayed at No. 1 since rolling out Dec. 14, save for Christmas Day, when Les Mis debuted to No. 1. Hobbit, distributed and marketed by New Line parent company Warner Bros., has grossed an estimated $238.1 million to date domestically and north of $470 million overseas.

The Weinstein Co.’s Django — starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz and Leonardo DiCaprio — has grossed $77.8 million since opening Christmas Day. Sony is TWC’s partner on the R-rated pic and will release the film internationally. Django cost about $87 million to produce.

Les Mis, from Universal and likewise opening on Christmas Day, grossed $7.6 million on Tuesday for a North American total of $80.6 million. The film adaptation of the hit stage musical, with a production price tag of $60 million, already has earned north of $50 million overseas. Its star-studded cast is led by Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Russell Crowe and Amanda Seyfried.

Some box-office observers believe Django‘s daily gross will edge past Hobbit by the end of the week or during the weekend.

STORY: Holiday Box Office: ‘Les Mis’ Beats ‘Django’ on Monday for No. 2, ‘Hobbit’ Safely on Top 

The family-friendly comedy Parental Guidance has been holding steady at No. 4 since its Christmas Day debut, grossing $4.7 million on New Year’s Day for a domestic total of $38.7 million. Costing a modest $25 million to make, the 20th Century Fox film stars Billy Crystal, Bette Midler and Marisa Tomei.

At No. 5 on New Year’s Day was the gritty Tom Cruise action pic Jack Reacher with a gross of $4.3 million. Reacher’s domestic total is $51.8 million, and it has earned north of $22 million overseas.

Judd Apatow‘s R-rated comedy This Is 40 held at No. 6, earning an estimated $3.7 million for a cume of $42.6 million. Universal’s sort-of sequel to Knocked Up cost $35 million to make.

Barbra Streisand–Seth Rogen starrer The Guilt Trip has failed to find a foothold at the box office since rolling out Dec. 19. The Paramount pic’s domestic cume through Tuesday was $24.8 million.

Other holiday losers include the 3D rerelease of Monsters, Inc., which has grossed $21.9 million since its Dec. 19 debut, and Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away, which has earned $8.9 million.

At the specialty box office, Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty has been the big holiday winner, taking in $1.6 million since opening Dec. 19 in five theaters in Los Angeles and New York.

Overall, Hollywood is pleased with the level of moviegoing during the holidays, which capped a record-breaking year at the North American box office. Revenue came in at $10.8 million, up 5.8 percent over last year’s $10.2 billion and topping the record of $10.6 billion set in 2009. Attendance, reaching 1.38 billion, was up 6 percent over last year’s 16-year low.

Both Sony and Universal enjoyed their best years ever at the domestic and international box office. Sony led all the Hollywood studios in terms of overall revenue, with its films generating $4.43 billion in ticket sales. It also led domestically in terms of market share, with its films earning north of $1.7 billion.