Strong Second Weekend

Box Office reports that The Battle Of The Five Armies made $40.9 million to remain in first place in its second weekend at the domestic box office. New stiff competition from Unbroken and Into The Woods, failed to take the box office crown from The Hobbit and they had to settle for second and third place instead.

The Hobbit dipped by a healthy 25% from its opening weekend, which is more than the 21% for The Two Towers but far better than the 30% decline for The Return of The King. This a great sign for BOTFA going forward.

In its first 12 days BOTFA has made $168 million,  which is 19% ahead of The Desolation Of Smaug and on par with An Unexpected Journey, however by this point, the previous instalments hadn't had the Christmas bump yet.

It's now lagging ROTK by 24%. If it continues to play out like ROTK, The Hobbit will earn $285 million, though if it soon appears to be significantly less front-loaded, it will finish within shouting distance of $300 million.

International

After earning $89.2 million over the weekend, the foreign gross of The Hobbit stands at $405 million and $573 million worldwide. It opened in Austrailia and Poland with massive three day totals of $10.1 million and $5.3 million respectively, which are franchise highs in both markets. After an $11.7 million third weekend in Germany, it is now the highest grossing film of the year there. BOTFA only has two more major markets left to be released in: It expands to Argentina on January 1st and it arrives in China on January 23rd.

While it is earning astounding numbers across nearly all its markets, some are posting lower grosses than The Desolation of Smaug at this point, while others are posting much higher numbers than previously. This should still result in $700 internationally though, giving BOTFA a good chance at reaching the $1 billion milestone.