For a mega franchise with what was said to be a massive fanbase, I don't see how $13m can be seen as anything but disappointing. I mean, even Sith 7 1/2 years ago did 17m. The review results are as I expected, down to 65% and a bad rating. This is Ang Lee Hulk ugly. But the Hobbit should be critic proof, and the bad reviews were held back for as long as possibble, so what are the reasons for the weaker midnights? I'm open to any ideas for this discussipn, because the only thing that makes any sense is that time has not been kind to LOTR and many lost interest in this world. Also, perhaps repeat viewings over the past decade exposed the flaws and excesses in the LOTR trilogy, and people don't view more of that as MUST SEE and are content to just wait until it comes out on video so they can have the remote in hand ready to skip through the boring parts.Thoughts?