"The Hobbit" Declines, But It's Still the Box Office Leader

The pre-Christmas weekend box office was dominated by The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which took in an estimated $36.7 million, according to data compiled by Box Office Mojo. Although the film was the clear No. 1 in its second week of release, that revenue number represented a 57% decline over the movie's opening weekend. The Hobbit is distributed by Time Warner (TWX) arm Warner Bros.

In second place was a new release, the violent action fantasy Jack Reacher, starring Tom Cruise. That film, distributed by Viacom (NASDAQ: VIA) unit Paramount, raked in approximately $15.6 million over the weekend, Box Office Mojo said.

Following those two was another debut and the only comedy in the top three, This Is 40. It brought in $12.03 million, according to Box Office Mojo's figures.  The movie is distributed by Universal, a division of GE (GE 1.30%) and Comcast's (CMCSA -5.82%) NBC Universal.