The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug film tops Australia's Boxing Day box office Second highest Boxing Day gross takings in Australian cinema history ... Martin Freeman, left, as Bilbo Baggins, and John Callen, who plays Oin, in a scene from "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug." (AP Photo/Warner Bros Pictures, Mark Pokorny) Source: AP HOBBITS may be little creatures, but there's nothing bigger when it comes to Boxing Day at Australian cinemas. The second movie in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit trilogy, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug , opened with $5.465 million, the second-highest Boxing Day gross ever. It's down slightly on the first instalment, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey , which set the Boxing Day record last year with $5.925 million. Of the other new releases vying for audiences on the busiest day on the Aussie box office calendar, Disney animation Frozen came in at No. 2 with $1.6 million. The top pick for kids these holidays, its gross stands at $3.1 million after preview screenings, including Christmas Day. Boxing Day also saw Ben Stiller bust out of his comedy safety zone as star and director of epic adventure The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. It grossed $840,112 to push its total past $1 million. Great word of mouth should give Stiller's feel-good film long legs. The Judi Dench drama/comedy Philomena led the way at the art house with $345,076. Based on the true story of an Irish woman's search for her son 50 years after he was taken away against her will, it topped another real-life tale, Australian-made war drama The Railway Man ($250,514). Shot largely in Queensland, The Railway Man stars Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth. Holdover releases Anchorman: The Legend Continues ($751,788) and American Hustle ($375,501) filled out the Boxing Day Top 5. While The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is tracking behind its 2012 predecessor worldwide, its total haul is nearing a sturdy $500 million. The Hobbit trilogy will conclude on Boxing Day 2014 with There and Back Again. If it follows the pattern of Jackson's previous Middle-earth venture, The Lord of the Rings, the third film should be the biggest of the lot. Sir Ian McKellen, who plays Gandalf the Grey in The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug, discusses whether the wizard may or may not be gay, in this excerpt from a conversation with WSJ's Barbara Chai.