Part 2 dominated the North American box office over the weekend although its domestic gross of $101 million was a disappointment. Unfortunately, that’s not the only new movie to perform below expectations.
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When Philip Seymour Hoffman died unexpectedly almost two years ago of a drug overdose, he was midway through filming the final two “Hunger Games” films. Although it has come to a close with unarguable box office success, it’s interesting to see how much less the final chapter opened to compared to its predecessors.
The series, starring Jennifer Lawrence, kicked off in March 2012 with a huge US$152.5 million weekend – one of the highest openings of all time.
In Australia, it was easily the biggest movie in cinemas, taking $9.8 million for a solid average of $15,700 per cinema. Then again, while $248 million total is an impressive number, last year’s Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part 1 opened at $274.9. It’s an expectedly large gross for the November blockbuster, but the internet will be quick to point out that it is the lowest opening weekend of the series, which is odd for it being marketed as the grand finale. Perhaps the popularity of the book series is waning. Rounding out the top 10 is Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies.
According to a report by Box Office Mojo, one of the reasons for the lower gross is the film’s weak marketing, lackluster reviews and its scheduling after buzz surrounding the upcoming release of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” took away some of its momentum. The film’s budget is estimated to be at $160 million. This latest film was projected to surpass $300 million.
‘The Peanuts Movie’ finished in third place with a decent 47% decline in attendance.
Meanwhile, the drama, which teamed Roberts and Chiwetel Ejiofor as well as Nicole Kidman, opened to approximately $6.6 million from 2,392 locations, marking the worst debut of Roberts’ career for a movie opening in 2,000 or more theaters.
With $247 million (£162 million) takings worldwide – $17.1 million in the United Kingdom – it fell short of the $300 million forecast.
In the third spot is the Taiwanese romance Our Times, which earned $12 million followed by the South Korean thriller Inside Men, which took $10.2 million. After the serious underperformance of last year’s ‘The Interview’, Rogen’s audience may be leaving him behind.
The series made up some ground overseas, picking up $147 million after debuting in almost every significant foreign territory, including China.
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In limited release, the Weinstein Company scored with “Carol”.
