The third and final Hobbit film tops the US box office

The final in the trilogy, starring Martin Freeman, had already topped the UK box office with its biggest opening weekend of the series

The third and final instalment of Peter Jackson's Hobbit films has topped the US box office, according to studio estimates.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies took $56.2m (£35.9m) over the weekend and $90.6m (£57.9m) since opening on Wednesday.

Another final instalment Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb came in second place with $17.3m (£11m).

Sony Picture's Annie remake came in third place with $16.3m (£10.4m).

The film company, which cancelled the release of its North Korea satire The Interview following hacking threats, called Annie's takings "a nice shot in the arm".

Warner Bros also referred to the Sony hacking issue in their reaction to the Hobbit's box office takings.

Jeff Goldstein, head of domestic distribution for Warner Bros. said the healthy weekend of movie-going was very welcome respite after an "upsetting and so disturbing" week.

The opening weekend figures were down on the two previous Hobbit films, although the five day takings were on a par with the previous Hobbit film The Desolation of Smaug.

The film also topped the UK box office last week, with the biggest opening weekend of the series.

The final Night at the Museum film was down greatly on the previous two.

The franchise's previous debut was $54.2m (£34.6m) for 2009's Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.

Last week's top film, Ridley Scott's Moses epic, Exodus: Gods and Kings, fell to fourth place with $8.1m (£5.1m) in its second week.