'Hobbit' repeats at No. 1 against strong debuts for 'Into the Woods' and 'Unbroken'

It was a busy weekend at the post-Christmas box office, but despite strong showings from new openers "Unbroken" and "Into the Woods," it was "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" that marched to the top spot for the second weekend in a row with $40.9 million.

Disney's adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's musical "Into the Woods," came in second place with $31.1 million, while Universal's fact-based World War II drama "Unbroken" took third with an impressive $30.6 million.

Paramount's crime thriller "The Gambler" opened to a middling $9.1 million from 2,478 locations, while The Weinstein Company's "Big Eyes" floundered in its debut with only $3 million from 1,307 locations.

Sony's "The Interview" also snagged a spot in the top 20, earning $1.8 million across the weekend from 331 theaters.

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The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Rentrak with studio estimates and actuals where available:

1. "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies," Warner Bros., $40,920,000, 3,875 locations, $10,560 average, $168,021,968, 2 weeks.

2. "Into the Woods," Disney, $31,051,923, 2,440 locations, $12,726 average, $46,141,663, 1 week.

3. "Unbroken," Universal, $30,621,445, 3,131 locations, $9,780 average, $46,055,845, 1 week.

4. "Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb," Fox, $20,202, 008, 3,914 locations, $5,161 average, $54,732,724, 2 weeks.

5. "Annie," Sony, $16,500,000, 3,197 locations, $5,161 average, $45,735,000, 2 weeks.

6. "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1," Lionsgate, $10,063,425, 2,793 locations, $3,603 average, $306,719,406, 6 weeks.

7. "The Gambler," Paramount, $9,127,022, 2,478 locations, $3,683 average, $14,130,191, 1 week.

8. "The Imitation Game," The Weinstein Company, $7,932,292, 747 locations, $10,619 average, $14,633,946, 5 weeks.

9. "Exodus: Gods and Kings," Fox, $6,713,921, 3,002 locations, $2,236 average, $52,482,279, 3 weeks.

10. "Wild," Fox Searchlight, $5,389,214, 1,285 locations, $4,194 average, $16,334,730, 4 weeks.

11. "Big Hero 6," Disney, $5,006,485, 2,065 locations, $2,424 average, $200,084,063, 8 weeks.

12. "Top Five," Paramount, $3,639,210, 1,426 locations, $2,552 average, $19,100,530, 3 weeks.

13. "Penguins of Madagascar," Fox, $3,274,134, 2,033 locations, $1,610 average, $70,948,595, 5 weeks.

14. "Interstellar," Paramount, $3,002,658, 1,253 locations, $2,396 average, $177,387,217, 8 weeks.

15. "Big Eyes" The Weinstein Company, $3,001,738, 1,307 locations, $2,297 average, $4,412,264, 1 week.

16. "The Interview," Sony, $1,800,000, 331 locations, $5,438 average, $2,840,000, 1 week.

17. "P.K.," UTV Communications, $1,705,839, 264 locations, $6,462 average, $7,866,268, 2 weeks.

18. "Horrible Bosses 2," Warner Bros., $1,460,000, 1,002 locations, $1,457 average, $50,868,465, 5 weeks.

19. "The Theory of Everything," Focus Features, $1,221,261, 736 locations, $1,659 average, $22,374,956, 8 weeks.

20. "Foxcatcher," Sony Pictures Classics, $932,579, 315 locations, $2,961 average, $6,132,281, 7 weeks.

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Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by 21st Century Fox; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.