earned an estimated $24.46 million on opening day. That includes an estimated $11.2 million from late Tuesday showings.This is the second-lowest opening day in Peter Jackson's six-movie Middle Earth saga; its ahead of, but below the rest. That's not a perfect apples-to-apples comparison, though, as the first twomovies opened on a Friday.Iffollows the same pattern as, it will earn $88 million by Sunday.Beginning on Wednesday, fans of Peter Jackson 's Middle Earth saga will have an opportunity to visit the fantasy world "one last time."Playing at 3,875 theaters,could earn as much as $100 million over its first five days. If it winds up near that level, that will put it on pace to earn well over $250 million total, which would be a solid result for this franchise finale.Meanwhile, two family titles—and—should do decent business when they open nationwide on Friday.The finalmovie is opening almost exactly 13 years after, which began a trilogy of movies that earned over $1 billion at the domestic box office and nearly $1.9 billion overseas, while also winning a whopping 17 Academy Awards. Over a decade later, director Peter Jackson has adapted J.R.R. Tolkien's, which functions as a prequel toIn the U.S., at least, themovies haven't been received as enthusiastically as themovies were. The firstearned $303 million—less than any of the original movies, despite ticket price inflation and the addition of 3D premiums—while last year'sset a new series low with $258.4 million. The comparatively poor reception can be chalked up to a few factors, which have already been discussed ad nauseam (the lower stakes inherent in prequels, the questionable creative choice to split one children's book in to three movies, etc.).Recognizing that moviegoers may be losing interest at this point, Warner Bros. and the filmmakers made a few key important choices for thefinale. The movie was originally titled, which is a nice reference to the book, but isn't particularly compelling from a marketing standpoint. Earlier this year, the movie received a new subtitle——which successfully conveys that this installment will feature the kind of large-scale skirmish that Peter Jackson executed so well in the last two installments of the original trilogy. Subsequent marketing material has also hammered home the notion that this is an intense action movie, not a whimsical adventure.Marketing has also made clear that this is, in fact, the conclusion to Peter Jackson's Middle Earth saga. The poster includes the tagline "The Final Chapter," while recent commercials have invited moviegoers to experience this world "one last time." That has historically been a good strategy for franchise finales, and usually results in an uptick at the box office.Still, there are plenty of factors working against. The previous twomovies each received mixed reactions from critics and moviegoers, and there are certainly some people who've sworn off this franchise. That issue is compounded by the fact that the other studios have actually programmed some decent competition this year: in the next eight days,facesmovies directly targeted at families, along with one () that could work with that audience as well.All of that being said,is already off to a strong start: on Tuesday night, it earned a massive $11.2 million, which is much higher than's $8.8 million Thursday night number last year. It's unclear exactly what this means for the five-day frame—the last two movies each opened on Friday, so it's tough to make an apples-to-apples comparison. Still, this virtually guarantees thatopens above, which earned $75 million over the same period back in 2001.Even ifunderperforms in the U.S., it's still poised to earn aof money internationally. It already opened to $122 million overseas this past weekend, and that was without a handful of majors including China, South Korea, Italy and Australia. The last two installments each earned over $700 million total; it's not clear yet ifwill match that, though it is safe to assume that $600 million is a lock.Box Office Mojo