The Hobbit leaves Bond in the cold

The Hobbit has nearly made more at the New Zealand box office in just two weeks than the latest James Bond movie has grossed in five weeks.

The Middle-earth epic made just over $6 million in its first two weeks, with a $6.2m take for the new Bond film, Skyfall.

Press chief film critic James Croot said The Hobbit faced little competition in its first fortnight, but the release of Disney animation Wreck-It Ralph, the forthcoming 3D adaptation of Life of Pi, musical Les Miserables and action movie Jack Reacher would challenge its dominance.

‘‘The true test of the film will come in the next few weeks. Life of Pi will be fighting The Hobbit for space on the big 3D screens.’’

Croot said he was unsure whether The Hobbit had been embraced by a broad audience.

‘‘People seem a bit more cynical than they were about The Lord of the Rings. I think the hype overdid it for some people . . . [but] it is a Kiwi film, so people will embrace that.’’

The Hobbit’s box office take could also be attributed to the $4 higher price of 3D tickets, which cost $21.50.

Unusually, Bollywood action movie Dabangg 2 grossed more per screen than The Hobbit. It grossed $10,860 per screen, compared with $10,170 per screen for The Hobbit.

Dabangg 2 was shown on 12 screens, compared with 203 for The Hobbit.