The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug fires up the box office with $73.7 million haul knocking Frozen to second place

PUBLISHED: 01:11 EST, 16 December 2013 | UPDATED: 03:54 EST, 16 December 2013

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The second film in The Hobbit trilogy slayed the competition on Sunday with the dragon tale earning the most at the weekend box office with $73.7 million.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug took the top spot from Disney's animated film Frozen that finished second with $22.2 million in its third week of release.

Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas secured third place with estimated ticket sales of $16.1 million.

Top spot: Sir Ian McKellen returned as the wizard Gandalf in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug that finished number one on Sunday at the weekend box office

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire finished fourth with $13.15 million and Thor: The Dark World rounded out the top five with $2.7 million.

The David O. Russell film American Hustle starring Jennifer Lawrence, Amy Adama, Christian Bale and Bradley Cooper opened in limited release and earned $690,000 in just six theatres.

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American Hustle will open in wide release on Friday.

Dragon tale: Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Popular stories: Orlando Bloom returned as Legolas in the film that also stars Evangeline Lilly

The Mary Poppins backstory movie Saving Mr. Banks with Tom Hanks as Walt Disney and Emma Thompson as the creator of the books about a magical English nanny also opened in limited release and earned $421,000 in 16 theatres.

Saving Mr. Banks also will open to wide release on Friday.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is the second film in the Hobbit trilogy that takes place before events in The Lord Of The Rings film series.

Number two: Frozen lost the top spot in the weekend box office derby and finished second

Part two: Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson in a scene from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

The trilogy started with An Unexpected Journey last year and will conclude with There And Back Again due out next year.

The Desolation of Smaug features 74-year-old Sir Ian McKellen as the wizard Gandalf and 42-year-old English actor Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins.

The film also stars 37-year-old English actor Benedict Cumberbatch as the great dragon Smaug. The film reunited Benedict who played a modern-day Sherlock Holmes and Martin who portrayed Dr. Watson in the British television series Sherlock.

Holiday movie: Tyler Perry is back in A Madea Christmas

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Beowulf, Cincinnati, United States, moments ago

I can't believe that people pay to go see anything by Tyler Perry. He's not funny. Nothing he creates is funny at all.

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kat, birmingham, United Kingdom, moments ago

totally deserved, the hobbit was amazing! it's a shame we have to wait another year now

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Oliver, Hamburg, Germany, 27 minutes ago

What a dreadful movie this was. The spirit if the book was miles away, with one senseless and totally exaggerated action scene after the next. The movie never managed to be more than the sum of its parts (which were all quite bad). Having read the Silmarillion, the Hobbit and LOTR, I was utterly disappointed. What happened to the spirit of the books? All sacrificed on the altar of Blockbuster cinema, killed for the sake of a uncritical, dumb audience that - for the most part - couldn´t tell Sauron and Saruman apart. I doubt that I will see the last part. Waste of time. Tolkien himself would have wept.

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Student, Leeds, United Kingdom, 49 minutes ago

The top photo has Gandalf with the same expression as Lord Sugar, perhaps Middle Earth The Apprentice could be a new show for aspiring wizards?

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kim, London, United Kingdom, 1 hour ago

Frozen looks terrible.

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Anon, UK, 1 hour ago

I thought the Hobbit was a breath taking roller coaster. I loved it. Ed Sheerin's song at the end is wonderful too. I don't mind the 'padding' as Peter Jackson has fleshed out the character of Bard with a back story. He is a hero who only gets a couple of lines in the book. Same with the struggles of Gandalf once he leaves the group. That is Peter Jackson's genius - giving us a glimpse at what Tolkien only hinted at. As for Smaug needing glasses - he is toying with Bilbo in the book because Hobbits are new to him, Bilbo is polite - and Smaug feels he can defeat any creature when it suits him. I've read/loved the books since childhood - but prefer PJ's rendering of them on the screen.

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Candice Olive, London, United Kingdom, 1 hour ago

In New Zealand now and saw it, wayyyy too much CGI it looked like a video game! And what did they do to legolas's face? virtual facelift was terrible! but the dragon was cool.

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Mcqueen, Dublin, Ireland, 1 hour ago

I wish the would make movies in chronological order its like Star Wars all over again they make these block busters and then they try to make another couple of billion by making inferior prequels .

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Steve, Red Arrow Display team, 2 hours ago

great film, but can't help but feel Hollywood went a little OTT on the CGI action scenes to the point where it bordered on being believable - the open barrels that never filled with water and sunk and always bobbed the right way up, the seemingly indestructable dwarves and a dragon that seriously needs a visit to specsavers.

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Cobain, Nirvaanaa, 2 hours ago

"Frozen" is just a cheap, generic 3D film to make a quick buck from children viewers.

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ThePunisher, Liverpool, 1 hour ago

So is 'The Hobbit'.

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Beyond12, shrewsbury, United Kingdom, 28 minutes ago

You haven't seen it have you? Well i have and i can tell you it's actually pretty good. And if you want to talking about making a quick buck then look at The Hobbit. A short book padded out into 3 films. $$$$$$$