Hobbit holds on to No.  1 spot; Zero Dark Thirty packs ’em in

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tiny hobbit Bilbo Baggins is running circles around some of the biggest names in Hollywood. 

Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey took in $36.7 million to remain No.  1 at the box office for the second-straight weekend, easily beating a rush of top-name holiday newcomers. 

Studio estimates Sunday put Tom Cruise’s action thriller Jack Reacher in second place with a modest $15.6 million debut.  Based on the Lee Child bestseller One Shot, the Paramount Pictures release stars Cruise as a lone-wolf ex-military investigator tracking a sniper conspiracy. 

Opening at No.  3 with $12 million was Judd Apatow’s marital comedy This Is 40, featuring Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann reprising their roles from the director’s 2007 hit Knocked Up. 

The road-trip romp The Guilt Trip, featuring Knocked Up star Seth Rogen and Barbra Streisand, debuted weakly at No.  6 with $5.4 million over the weekend.  and Playing in narrower release, the acrobatic fantasy Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away also drew light crowds, debuting at No.  11 with $2.1 million. 

A 3-D version of Disney’s 2001 animated blockbuster Monsters, Inc. also had a modest start at No.  7 with $5 million over the weekend and $6.5 million since opening Wednesday. 

In limited release, Kathryn Bigelow’s Osama bin Laden manhunt saga Zero Dark Thirty played to packed houses with $410,000 in just five theatres, averaging a huge $82,000 a cinema.