This week, the third and final installment of Peter Jackson's 'The Hobbbit' trilogy raked in a whopping $117.6 million as it opened in 37 foreign markets.
'The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies' did a superb job as its gross in foreign markets went over the first weekends of the past 'The Hobbit' films, 'An Unexpected Journey' and 'The Desolation of Smaug', both of which had a December debut as well in 2012 and 2013, respectively.
As an adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's famous novel of the same title, the third film of 'The Hobbit' trilogy reportedly pulled in an initial $6.4 million from 60 Imax theaters, including those in the Middle East and Europe. This has allowed the 'Battle of the Five Armies' to bag the title of best international Imax opening this December, going beyond the first movie's $5 million haul in 2012.
The third installment from New Line Cinema and MGM has had an excellent performance in the United Kingdom, where its debut was deemed as the second largest opening weeked in the history of Imax theaters.
Starring Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage and Ian McKellen, the 'Battle of the Five Armies' made up the 66 percent of the top five highest grossing films in the U.K. this weekend by earning $15.1 million.
This puts the film at almost the same level as the third 'Lord of the Rings' film, the 'Return of the King', which had the biggest opening weekend for all J.R.R. Tolkien's adaptations directed by Peter Jackson.
Currently, earnings for the third epic fantasy adventure installment of 'The Hobbit' trilogy includes $19.5 million in Germany, $17.9 million in both Brazil and Mexico and $14.5 million in France.
In Russia, such film raked in $13.4 million for its opening weekend, allowing the film debut to become the biggest opening for Warner Bros. within the country.
The 'Battle of the Five Armies' will debut in the United States on Wednesday, while theaters in Spain, Italy and South Korea will have the premiere on the same date.
Meanwhile, the official release date for Australia is set on Dec. 28, while viewers in China can look forward to a premiere on Jan. 23.
