The 23rd installment of James Bond became one of only a little over a dozen to score $1 billion worldwide. Also in Wednesday’s round-up of news, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey crossed a milestone of its own; Silver Linings Playbook snatches European awards; China’s Lost in Thailand marks a record at home. Skyfall Crossed $1 Billion Mark The 23rd installment of James Bond became the 14th film ever to pass the $1 billion mark globally. It has grossed nearly $290 million as of the weekend, Deadline reports . The Hobbit Crosses $600 Million Globally The first installment of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit pics hit the $600 million milestone over the holiday weekend. It has taken in $22.7 million domestically, putting it ahead of 2001’s The Fellowship of the Ring ($189.3 million), but below the 17-day come of The Two Towers ($243.6 million) and The Return of the King ($272.8 million), EW reports . Silver Linings Playbook Wins Most Awards at Italian-Hollywood Festival The feature directed by David O. Russell picked up four awards at the Capri, Hollywood Film Festival including the festival’s film of the year prize. Other winners included Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild , Juan Antonio Bayona’s action drama The Impossible and crime thriller The Iceman by Ariel Vromen, THR reports . Low Budget Lost In Thailand Becomes Highest Grossing Chinese Film The low budget Chinese-produced comedy is Chna’s highest-grosing domestically made film, passing the 1 billion yuan ($160 million) mark since debuting December 12, even beating out James Cameron’s Titanic in 3-D, last year’s most popular foreign film. Set in Thailand, the film revolves around two businessmen who link up with a tourist who explore the country. It’s full of slapstick humor and action scenes, Variety reports . Specialty Box Office: Zero Dark Thirty , Amour , Stellar in 2nd Weekend; West of Memphis OK in Debut, Promised Land Soft Sony/Columbia Pictures’ limited-run engagement of Zero Dark Thirty showed impressive stamina, and the studio’s specialty market distributor Sony Pictures Classics also had great news for Amour but not so great news for newcommer West Of Memphis in three-day estimates for the pre-New Year’s weekend, while Focus Features, Deadline reports .
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‘Skyfall’ Crosses $1 Billion: Biz Break
