"The Hobbit: The Battle of The Five Armies"' managed to keep its position at North America's box office safe for the third week in a row by earning another $21.9 million this past weekend.
The latest instalment of "The Hobbit' trilogy brings back its audience to Middle Earth for the last time. It evaded some competition from musical as well as awards bait around the Holiday season, but Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" managed to make a massive $220.8 million in the U.S. box office.
Its worldwide box office collection stands at more than $722.8 million and might make it past $ 1 billion, as it did with the "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey", Empire Online reported.
This weekend's sole major new release was Relativity's "The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death", which managed to grab the fourth place by earning around $15.1 million.
"It's a terrific way to start the new year. It played broadly. The recent successful horror films have appealed to young females. There's this preconceived notion that horror is always for young males," said Kyle Davies, president of worldwide distribution at Relativity, as quoted by Variety, Ace Showbiz reports.
Rob Marshall's musical flick, "Into the Woods", and Angelina Jolie's "Unbroken" fought hard to land the second and the third spot respectively, in the US box office. The star-studded "Into the Woods" earned $19.1 million. The movie features the ever-gorgeous Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp, Anna Kendrick, Emily Blunt and Chris Pine.
"Unbroken" – which is based on the first-hand account of World War II hero Louis Zamperini's stay at Japanese prison camps – came third earning $18.4 million.
The weekend estimates are below (via Rentrak):
1. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies - $21.9 million
2. Into the Woods - $19.1 million
3. Unbroken - $18.4 million
4. The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death - $15.1 million
5. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb - $14.5 million
6. Annie - $11.4 million
7. The Imitation Game - $8.1 million
8. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 - $7.7 million
9. The Gambler - $6.3 million
10. Big Hero 6 - $4.8 million
