NORTH AMERICA: ‘The Battle of the Five Armies’ Continues to Lead on Tuesday with $7.96M; ‘Into the Woods’ Claims Second with $6.51M; ‘Unbroken’ Takes Third with $5.39M

Warner’s The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies grossed an estimated $7.96 million on Tuesday to remain in first place at the daily box office. The third and final installment of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy has led the daily box office for 13 of the past 14 days. The Battle of the Five Armies was up 5.5 percent over Monday and down a healthy 19 percent from last Tuesday. The two-week total for The Battle of the Five Armies stands at $183.53 million, which leaves the film just $16.47 million away from reaching the $200 million domestic milestone. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is running 16 percent ahead of the $160.47 million two-week take of last year’s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and 3 percent behind the $189.70 million two-week gross of 2012’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Disney’s Into the Woods held steady in second with $6.51 million. The Rob Marshall directed musical featuring Meryl Streep increased 6 percent over Monday’s performance. Into the Woods has grossed $58.77 million in six days of release. That represents a very good start, especially when taking into the account the film’s relatively modest location count and production cost. Into the Woods is running 15 percent ahead of the $51.01 million six-day take of 2008’s Bedtime Stories and 12 percent behind the $66.72 million six-day gross of 2012’s Les Misérables.

Unbroken took in $5.39 million to remain in third. The Angelina Jolie directed war drama from Universal was up 4 percent over Monday, which represented one of the day’s smaller daily percentage increases among wide releases. Unbroken continues to exceed expectations in a big way with a strong six-day start of $56.61 million. That places the film an impressive 17 percent ahead of the $48.38 million six-day start of 2008’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and 11 percent behind the $63.44 million six-day take of 2012’s Django Unchained.

Fox’s Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb continued to display strong holiday holding power with a fourth place take of $5.28 million. The third installment of the Ben Stiller led franchise was up 18.5 percent over Monday and up 27.5 percent over last Tuesday. Family films in general experienced especially strong daily holds on Tuesday. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb has grossed $64.48 million in twelve days. That already gives the film a current total gross to opening weekend ratio of 3.77 to 1.

Annie also held up nicely on Tuesday to round out the day’s unchanged top five with an estimated $4.40 million. Sony’s musical remake starring Quvenzhané Wallis, Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz was up 15 percent over Monday and up 24 percent over last Tuesday. Annie surpassed the $50 million mark yesterday and has grossed $53.96 million in twelve days. The total gross to opening weekend ratio for Annie currently stands at 3.40 to 1.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 placed in sixth with $2.39 million. The third installment of Lionsgate’s blockbuster franchise was up 8 percent over Monday and up 25 percent over last Tuesday. Mockingjay – Part 1 is currently the second highest grossing release of 2014 domestically with a 40-day take of $311.33 million