Did the relatively lackluster performance show interest in the series has peaked?
Advertisement
Jennifer Lawrence’s final on-screen portrayal of Katniss Everdeen left distributor Lionsgate hungry for more money in its opening weekend.
The final chapter in the “Hunger Games” saga, “Mockingjay – Part 2”, is on track to hit a $102 million bullseye in its opening weekend, based on Friday receipts. Still, it was an example of a big box office open that simply wasn’t big enough to meet expectations.
“Mockingjay – Part 1” opened to $121.9 million domestically following the first film’s $152.5 million launch and “Catching Fire’s” $158.1 million kickoff. However, the upcoming film will draw the curtains for the Hunger games series. “People are going to talk about the surprise ending, which will result in a very strong multiple”, STX distribution chief Kevin Grayson said.
Who didn’t see THIS coming! Overall, the initial reviews appeared to be more positive than those for Part 1. The movie, from Studio Canal, Working Title Films and Cross Creek Pictures, is being released by Universal in the US and stars Hardy in a double turn as two of London’s most notorious gangsters, Reggie and Ronnie Kray.
Paul Dergarabedian, media analyst at Rentrak, added that it showed how well something relatively new can take off.
“Part 2” saw ticket sales in the USA and Canada fall below industry expectations of about $120 million. It spent almost $200 million to make and market the film. The weekend had all the possibilities of being huge, as the weekend hoped to stay on pace with the huge weekends of the last eight years, where three of those years had summer-style top 12 grosses combining for over $200 million.
While Mockingjay didn’t manage to soar as high as the earlier installments, the $160 million film still notched the fifth-biggest debut of the year, making it one of only five films to debut above $100 million.
Sony distribution chief Rory Bruer noted that there won’t be another mainstream comedy in the marketplace until Tina Fey and Amy Poehler’s “Sisters” debuts on December 16. Just two weekends ago, “Spectre”, which fell to second place this week with $14.6 million, failed to live up to the domestic opening of “Skyfall”, the previous James Bond film. The movie is a remake of an acclaimed Argentinian film by the same name.
But there is one bad thing to note: of all the movies in the Hunger Games franchise, Mockingjay far and away took in the least amount of money for its opening weekend – and it’s not even close.
Advertisement
“It’s a great accomplishment”.
