The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies Had A $24.46 Million Opening Day At U.S. Box Office

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies brought in an estimated $24.46 million in its opening day at the box office, according to Box Office Mojo.

This is the second lowest opening of all of Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth movies. The only film to open lower was The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, the first in the series, and therefore the only one that didn’t have its predecessors’ hype to build on.

The film opened on a Wednesday. The original Lord of the Rings films did the same, but the previous two Hobbit films opened on Fridays.

Assuming the film’s ticket sales follow the same pattern set by The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, the movie is expected to reach $88 million over the weekend.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is now playing.