HUGE DEBUT FOR HOBBIT SEQUEL IN CHINA

Overseas, the top film this weekend was The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug with $32.7 million — virtually all of it representing ticket sales in China. Of that figure, $4.4 million was represented by IMAX sales, making it the biggest three-day opening for a Hollywood film in that format. The overseas total for the Hobbit sequel now stands at $637.1 million. Worldwide, it’s $893 million. It is due to roll out in Japan, the third-largest movie market behind the U.S. and China, next weekend. Together the two Asian countries could push the worldwide gross past the $1 billion mark. Speaking of that mark, Disney’s Frozen added another $9 million to its overseas total, pushing its worldwide haul to $980 million. It’s expected to pass the magic $1-billion marker within the next two weeks. The Lego Movie and Pompeii ran a neck-and-neck race at the foreign box office, with the former coming in second with $23.1 million and the latter with $22.8 million.