Lion of the box office

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe snatched the US box office crown from King Kong during a fierce four-day holiday battle.

Less than US$2 million ($2.98 million) separated Kong and Narnia on each of the past two weekends.

Narnia took about US$32.8 million ($48.93 million) from Friday to Monday, nudging Universal's King Kong out of the No 1 spot with a New Year's weekend gross of US$31.6 million ($47.13 million).