Hollywood has kicked off the New Year with more of the same, as The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies topped the weekend box office for the third straight weekend.
Peter Jackson's Middle-earth finale took in $US21.9 million ($A23.69 million), according to studio estimates on Sunday, narrowly edging out the Disney musical Into the Woods and Angelina Jolie's World War II tale Unbroken.
Into the Woods made an estimated $US19.1 million over the weekend. Unbroken hauled in $US18.4 million.
The weekend's lone new wide-release, Woman in Black 2: The Angel of Death, landed in fourth place with $US15.1 million.
In its second week of limited release, Sony Pictures' The Interview earned an estimated $US1.1 million theatrically. Digital and video-on-demand figures hadn't been announced as of early Sunday.
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