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‘Hunger Games’ holds off ‘Krampus’ to keep top spot at box office

Mockingjay, Part 2 continues to kill the competition entering the box office arena – beating out the solo major new release Krampus to win the crown for the third weekend in a row.

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According to Rentrak, which records tickets sales at box offices around the world, the cinematic finale to the “Hunger Games” series topped the charts, raking in US$51 million (RM215 million) over the weekend.

Universal’s holiday horror film “Krampus” capitalized on a weekend where few new releases tend to open.

Universal and Legendary’s “Krampus” outperforms expectations for its North American debut, grossing 6 million from 2,902 theaters. The word that writer/director Ryan Coogler is in talks to direct Marvel’s Black Panther sure didn’t hurt the film’s prospects either. “But along comes something like ‘Krampus, ‘ which is a fresh take on a holiday movie, promising horror and bit of fun and comedy, and audiences respond”.

The “Rocky” sequel “Creed” was just a hair behind, in third place with a $15.5 million gate. Costing just $15 million to mark, the film boasts a B-minus grade from audience polling firm CinemaScore and a 63% “fresh” rating from Rotten Tomatoes critics. And falling in sixth again, The Night Before still struggles for relevance as an estimated $4.9 million is still not enough to give the flagging comedy much hope for theatrical box office gold.

The Good Dinosaur has earned $131 million worldwide.

Meanwhile, the Mother Theresa biopic, The Letters, made $802,000 from 886 theaters.

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Paolo Sorrentino’s Youth, starring Michael Caine, Jane Fonda, Harvey Keitel, Rachel Weisz and Paul Dano, fared somewhat better, debuting to an estimated $80,000 from four theaters for a location average of $20,000. It earned $1.2 million over 305 screens and is being distributed by Roadside Attractions. “Spotlight”, a drama about the Catholic Church’s sexual abuse scandal, has earned $16.6 million since opening five weeks ago, while “Brooklyn”, a lyrical story of an Irish immigrant, has grossed $11.2 million in a little over a month. It earned $67,868 during its release with a five location average of $13,574, including the NY and Los Angeles theatres.

'Krampus' movie starts weekend off strong, but 'Hunger Games' likely to win