MUMBAI: 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' has surpassed the $1 billion milestone at the worldwide box office. The joint announcement was made by New Line Cinema president COO Toby Emmerich, MGM Studios chairman CEO Gary Barber, Warner Bros. Pictures president of domestic distribution Dan Fellman and Warner Bros. Pictures president of international distribution Veronika Kwan Vandenberg.

To date, the blockbuster has earned $301.4 million in the US. With its recent release in China, where it has grossed $37.3 million in 10 days, the film has earned an estimated $700 million internationally to take the global total of $1 billion. 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' becomes the 15th film in history to exceed one billion dollars worldwide.

In making the announcement, Fellman stated, "We could not be more proud to have reached this amazing benchmark. Together with our partners at MGM and New Line, everyone at Warner Bros. congratulates Peter Jackson and his entire cast and crew on the extraordinary success of this film"

Kwan Vandenberg said, "From Berlin to Beijing, it is so gratifying to see how the release of 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' has been such an event with audiences around the world. It's an exciting bellwether as we move toward the release of the second film in the trilogy"

'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' a production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Pictures, is the first film in Oscar winning filmmaker Peter Jackson's epic 'The Hobbit' Trilogy, based on the novel by J R R Tolkien. The film recently earned three Oscar nominations, for Best Production Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, and Best Visual Effects.

The three films tell a continuous story set in Middle-earth 60 years before "The Lord of the Rings" which Jackson and his filmmaking team brought to the big screen in the blockbuster trilogy that culminated with the Oscar-winning 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'.