The Lord of the Rings prequel held onto the number one spot for the third consecutive weekend after bringing in takings of $11 million (£6.9 million).
The film saw off competition from Ang Lee’s acclaimed adaptation of Yann Martel’s novel Life of Pi, which scored second place with $6.7 million (£4.2 million), ahead of Tom Cruise’s latest blockbuster Jack Reacher, which entered the box office chart in third place after garnering just $5.8 (£3.6 million) in its opening weekend.
The top five is rounded out by Pitch Perfect and Parental Guidance, which both took in the region of $2.08 million (£1.3 million).
Bond blockbuster Skyfall remains in the chart at number seven after breaking records by becoming the first ever 007 movie to shatter the $1 billion mark at the global box office.
