The box office tallies for “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2” are officially in, and it looks like the fourth and likely last installment in the Lionsgate franchise will be the least financially successful yet.
Advertisement
Considering Part 1 was a dreary slow burner, Part 2 is a lot more exciting, although does start out quite slowly itself.
Lionsgate Studios spent roughly $160 million in the making of the major blockbuster.
Mockingjay, Part 2 did its book counterpart justice, successfully expressing each somber theme present in Suzanne Collins’ novel. Rounding out the top 10 is Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies.
With the weekend box office down 11 percent from last year, it remains to be seen whether 2015 will indeed become a record-breaking $11 billion year as many predicted at the outset. The latest James Bond flick dropped almost 57% in attendance.
The film also brought in 146 million dollars (£96.3 million) at the global box office over the weekend. I failed to attend a critics screening in my region but a few of the complaints I’ve read are regarding the excessive level of violence – like it should have been Rated R, not PG-13. In the meantime, The Martian still remains the top earner of the field with an estimated $3.7 million adding to a profitable $213 million domestic gross. In the US the film did well in premium formats, earning an estimated $9.8 million, and Imax, where it picked up $8.5 million. The second “Divergent” film in the series, which is also based on a young adult book series, just about matched the opening weekend gross of the first movie as well. Still, $101 million is nothing to sneeze at and worldwide returns will make this the most profitable Lionsgate franchise for the foreseeable future.
Speaking of stars who’ve lost their box office power, the fifth-place picture was Julia Roberts’ ‘The Secret in Their Eyes’. Its $14.6 million brought its running tally to $153 million.
Katniss’ and Peeta’s relationship took an interesting turn in “Mockingjay: Part 1” when Peeta was brainwashed by the Capitol into believing she is evil.
Advertisement
At art houses, Brooklyn (Fox Searchlight) continued to perform well and new release Carol (The Weinstein Company), starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, posted strong results in extremely limited release. It’s the kind of realness that can give you and the movie a jolt, as in a scene with Ms. Lawrence and a sensationally raw Jena Malone that thrusts it into that place where heroes and villains give way to something like life. With a $20,750 per-screen average, Universal will expand it in the coming weeks.
