The Hobbit 2' Opens at Number One in Japan

"The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug"
The film took $3.1 on Saturday and Sunday, outperforming the local opening of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" in 2012 by more than 40 percent.

TOKYO – 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 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.