The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey hits the $500 million mark worldwide after two weeks of release

For all you naysayers out there: Peter Jackson and his “The Hobbit Trilogy” aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.  Because when you crack the $500 million worldwide mark after two weeks of release, studios tend to sit up and take notice and do whatever they ca to support you and your future films hitting future milestones. 

A more specific breakdown of the numbers would show you that $179.7 million of that came domestically while another $344 million came internationally, leaving a grand global total of $523.7 million.  The release was also a record breaker for Australia, which only just had the film find its way to cinemas on Boxing Day.

I imagine this bodes very well not just for the future two HOBBIT films yet to come but for Peter Jackson‘s career as a whole.  In the same way that The Wachowski siblings keep scoring studio support even after some of their films have had less than spectacular critical/financial reception, the payoff for Jackson’s gamble on telling a grander tale than the book itself offered will surely secure him more than a few blank checks and votes of good will for years to come.  Which begs the question, the answer to which we won’t know for some time, of what the man has planned after his final HOBBIT film and the next TINTIN adventure have both come and gone from the multiplex.

Only time will tell.  But sooner rather than later would be awfully nice, so stay tuned.