The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens with an expected (and record) $84 million

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (review/teaser/trailer) basically opened like a Lord of the Rings film, give or take various variables. Its $84.7 million estimated debut clobbered the December record, which is the $77 million earned by Avatar ($77 million, $80 million adjusted for inflation) and I Am Legend ($77.2 million, $89 million adjusted for inflation) in 2009 and 2007 respectively.
It soundly thumps the various other Lord of the Rings films, but this is where it gets tricky. The prior Peter Jackson Middle Earth pictures opened on the weekend before Christmas week, which I’ve long argued is the best weekend of the year to open your picture. So the fact that The Hobbit opened a week earlier makes this number a little more impressive, although the pre-Christmas weekend is more about legs than opening weekend. On the other hand, the prior films all opened on a Wednesday, meaning that their would-be opening weekend was spread out of five days. And of course, we have to take into account nine years of inflation and the whole 3D/IMAX price bump. So purely looking at inflation and comparing the Fri-Sun portion, this opening is about on par with The Two Towers ($62 million, but $84 million adjusted for inflation) and well ahead of Fellowship of the Ring’s ($72 million, but adjusted-for-inflation $66 million) and King Kong ($50 million, and $62 million adjusted for inflation) for what that’s worth. It’s a bit behind the $72 million/$95 million opening of The Return of the King.

Christiano Ronaldo and his girlfriend show off their amazing bods.

Summer has indeed arrived as Christiano Ronaldo and Irina Shayk take to the water.

It’s agreed Christiano Ronaldo and Irina Shayk are two very irresistable hawt bixches. Treating onlookers to a display of the impossible….

Live from St Tropez, France, dashing soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo and his hawt bixch Russian super model girlfriend, Irina Shayk couldn’t help but treat onlookers to a delicious treat when they decided to cool off from the summer heat when they headed to the local beach.

Playing and goofing with each other, the two good natured media whores set tongues along the waterfront wagging as they casually showed envious onlookers why they are the perennial favorites of a certain cache of society.

Giggling and splashing each other and of course ever conscious of the lurking camera boy the two seemed to be having a stellar time as they cast about their inhibitions and did what comes naturally in the heat of the moment.

At present it is understood that Ronaldo is just taking some much needed time off from his grueling schedule whilst girlfriend Shayk is expected to be spending the balance of the summer being the face of her new jewelry line.

Don’t you wish you were young, hawt, glamorous and conspicuous too?

Oh my Christiano, I must say you and Irina do cut dashing figures in the water…

Watch out Christiano! Irinya is right behind you…

Oh please Christiano. What's a little water amongst lovers?

Indeed. One must be inclined to agree that Christiano and Irinya do cut rather fetching figures. Oh summer bliss…