The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Freeman Still - H 2013
Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. PicturesTOKYO — The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug bowed at number one over the weekend in Japan, taking an impressive $3.1 million (?313 million) on Saturday and Sunday, with 244,500 admissions from 681 screens.
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The Desolation of Smaug not only bested the Japanese opening of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey by more than 40 percent, but it also knocked The Mole Song — Undercover Agent Reiji off the top spot after two weekends despite Takashi Miike‘s latest increasing its take by 8 percent. Part of the attraction of the latest Hobbit installment appears to lie in Benedict Cumberbatch — the voice of Smaug — who has become a big hit with Japanese audiences.
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Children’s fantasy Kiki’s Delivery Service (Majo no Takyubin) opened in the third spot with $1.26 million (?128 million) from 281 screens. This live-action version directed by Takashi Shimizu (Grudge) is based on the same novel by Eiko Kadono and bears the same title as the 1989 anime from Hayao Miyazaki.
Kick-Ass 2 dropped to seventh after bowing last weekend in fifth.
Twitter: @GavinJBlair
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