Jan. 02--The final installment of the "Hobbit" trilogy held off fellow holdovers "Into the Woods" and "Unbroken" to top the box office on New Year's Day.
Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" pulled in a robust $9.3 million in U.S. and Canada ticket sales on Thursday, according to studio estimates, bringing its domestic total to $198.9 million.
The Thursday number follows a take of $6 million on New Year's Eve.
Disney's Stephen Sondheim adaptation "Into the Woods" landed in second place on Jan. 1 with an estimated $8.1 million. That lifts its U.S.-Canada total to $72.2 million in ticket sales so far.
Meanwhile, Universal's Angelina Jolie-directed World War II saga "Unbroken" landed $6.9 million, hitting a cumulative $69.4 million.
The only newcomer hitting movie theaters this weekend is "The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death."
Coming nearly two years after the original, the ghostly sequel debuted at 7 p.m. Thursday. It scored $1.5 million in pre-weekend showings.
Looking ahead, "The Hobbit" is expected to rule the box office for the third weekend in a row with a possible $25 million take. "Into the Woods" and "Unbroken" are expected to generate about $20 million this weekend.
The "Woman in Black" follow-up is expected to debut with $9 million to $11 million in ticket sales, which is lower than the opening for the original that starred Daniel Radcliffe. Relativity Studios acquired the sequel last year for $1 million.
