Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies tops US box office with $56 million

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies has topped the US box office this weekend, according to studio estimates.

The third and final installment of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit films took $56.2 million over the weekend and $90.6 million since opening on Wednesday.

Another final installment Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb came in second place with $17.3 million.

Sony Picture’s Annie remake came in third place with $16.3 million.

The studio, which cancelled the release of its North Korea satire The Interview following hacking threats, called Annie‘s takings “a nice shot in the arm”.

The opening weekend figures were down on the two previous Hobbit films, although the five day takings were on a par with the previous Hobbit film The Desolation of Smaug.

The final Night at the Museum film was down greatly on the previous two.

The franchise’s previous debut was $54.2 million for 2009’s Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.

Last week’s top film, Ridley Scott’s Moses epic, Exodus: Gods and Kings, fell to fourth place with $8.1 million in its second week.