Here’s the thing, with each subsequent release The Hunger Games films have had a better multiplier (total gross divided by opening), going up to 2.76 for the latest (compared to 2.67 for the first one).
Advertisement
So far, the final and fourth installment of “Hunger Games” ended with a domestic gross of $101 million in North America. Lionsgate, however, was not disappointed.
“It’s a great accomplishment”. “Mockingjay – Part 2” could be a champion over the next few weeks and, if it grosses enough, perhaps meet or even surpass the grosses of previous “Games” movies.
“If we live in a world where a 100 million dollar opening is a disappointment, that’s pretty insane”, he said.
But it fell short of the $121.9 million generated by last year’s “Mockingjay – Part 1“, or the $158.1 million scored in 2013 by “Catching Fire”, the second movie in the franchise.
James Bond film Spectre was second on this week’s USA box office chart, with $14.
Mockingjay – Part 1 made significantly less than the other two, accumulating $121m over its opening weekend.
The weekend’s other newcomers just couldn’t hang with Katniss, 007 or Charlie Brown. The Peanuts Movie finished third, picking up $12.8 million to push its stated total to $98.9 million. It cost $19.5 million to produce, and is the latest in a string of films pitched at adult audiences such as “By the Sea” and “Steve Jobs”, to whiff at the box office this fall. A lavish roller coaster will be created to resemble the movies’ high-speed Capitol trains and there’s a simulator-style ride that will take people on a hovercraft tour of Panem. “Opening early seemed like a really good prelude to the Thanksgiving weekend where it will expand beautifully”, said Rory Bruer, Sony’s president of worldwide distribution. With an all-star cast including Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman and Chiwetel Efjiofor, the movie opened to just $6.6 million, which is considered underwhelming by studio STX Entertainment, which had expected an opening in the $7 million-$9 million range.
Still, Box Office Mojo notes Mockingjay 2 is the fifth 2015 film to debut with $100 million or more.
“We’re in the home stretch”, Dergarabedian said. However, it’s all but inevitable that the new “Star Wars” film will topple “Mockingjay” in mid-December if it can hang on that long.
Advertisement
Following are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through yesterday at United States and Canadian cinemas, according to Rentrak. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
