The Hobbit's reign ends at US box-office

It took Leatherface and his chainsaw to stop The Hobbit's stranglehold on the top spot at the US box-office.

The horror sequel Texas Chainsaw 3D debuted at number one in the US box-office last week with $NZ27.6 million, according to studio estimates.

It picks up where 1974's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre left off, with masked killer Leatherface on the loose again.

Quentin Tarantino's revenge saga Django Unchained held on at two for a second-straight weekend with $24.1 million, raising its US domestic total to $127.6 million.

After three weekends at number one, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey slipped to third with $21 million.

That lifted its US domestic haul to $316 million.

It also netted $600 million overseas to raise its worldwide total to about $959 million.

Musical Les Miserables finished at number four with $19.3 million, pushing its domestic total to $124.2 million.

Meanwhile, Matt Damon's natural-gas fracking drama Promised Land had a slow start, coming in at number 10 with $5.2 million after opening in limited release a week earlier.

Promised Land stars Damon as a salesman pitching rural residents on fracking technology to drill for natural gas.

Box-office top 10
1. Texas Chainsaw 3D, $27.6 million
2. Django Unchained, $24.1 million.
3. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, $21 million.
4. Les Miserables, $19.3 million
5. Parental Guidance, US$10.1 million.
6. Jack Reacher, $11.2 million
7. This Is 40, $10.3 million.
8. Lincoln, $6.4 million.
9. The Guilt Trip, $5.4 million.
10. Promised Land, $5.2 million.

- AP