The 3D tentpole opens in North America at 12:01 a.m. Friday and is eyeing a weekend gross in the $75 million to $90 million range.

Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opened to $11.2 million on Wednesday in 16 foreign territories, a strong start for the 3D tentpole.

The Hobbit, from New Line Cinema and MGM, took in $4.3 million in France, capturing 50 percent of the market, and $2 million in Germany, capturing 73 percent of the market. It took in $1.6 million in Sweden, a sizable number for that country.

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Warner Bros., which is distributing the film, opened Hobbit at 12:01 a.m. Friday in North America.

According to those who have seen prerelease tracking, Hobbit could open in the $75 million to $90 million range domestically. Reviews have been mixed in the U.S., however.

The movie, the first in a trilogy based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien, takes place 60 years before the events chronicled in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.