Australian box office contenders bowed before the all conquering concluding episode of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, Return Of The King. Its A$7,686,250 weekend on 453 screens boosted total takings past A$26.6m on only its second week.

The two films that challenged the King's A$16,967 screen average were newcomer Welcome To The Jungle (AKA The Rundown) on 143 screens (average A$15,285), and Lost In Translation (A$484,972 from 34 screens, average A$14,263, a 32% increase on its opening week figures)

Other new releases to register strongly were Spy Kids 3D: Game Over at second spot (just under A$3m) and Cold Mountain at fifth (just under $A2m). Love Actually, at number three, continued to do well in its second week.

Arthouse standout Goodbye, Lenin! played only 16 screens but had an excellent A$8,190 average.