It is indeed a very Merry Christmas for Angelina Jolie! The sophomore director unwrapped a $15 million present on Christmas Day, when her new movie "Unbroken" wins first place in the Christmas Day box office.
Jolie's film debuted in 3,131 theaters and it is adapted from the non-fiction book of the same name written by Laura Hillenbrand. "Unbroken" grossed $15.59 million and took the No. 1 spot at the domestic box office.
The drama stars Jack O'Connell, Domhnall Gleeson, Garrett Hedlund, and others. The movie talks about the story of the late Louis Zamperini. The American World War II prisoner of war survivor, inspirational speaker, and Olympic distance runner took his last breath just last month. But before his passing, he worked with the 39-year-old actress on the adaptation of his captivating life story for the big screen, which included his time in the Olympics, his achievements in the Air Force, encounters with death, and years spent as a prisoner of war in Japan.
A close competitor, the Disney film "Into the Woods" was narrowly beaten by Jolie's drama film. Coming in at a close second, the star-studded fairy tale film grossed $15.08 million from 2,440 theaters.
The film that took third place was the third and last "Hobbit" film in "The Hobbit" trilogy, "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies", which earned $13.14 at 3,875 theaters. For the fourth place was the "Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb" which was one of the final projects done by the late Robin Williams. The comedy film was able to earn $7.35 million from 3,914 big screens. As for the fifth place, it was taken by the film that starred Mark Wahlberg, "The Gambler", at an estimated gross of $5 million at 2,478 theaters.
On another note, the controversial comedy film starring Seth Rogen and James Franco made an impact as well. Taking the spot of No. 15, the film was only shown at 331 independent movie theaters and earned $1.04 million, averaging at $3,142 per theater.
