Box Office: 'Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1' is #1, But With Bad News
It's a bit of a good news/bad news situation for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1, according to The Hollywood Reporter. First, the good news: the movie not only claimed the top spot with a massive $123 million debut, it also toppled Transformers: Age of Extinction as the biggest opening of the year domestically.
The bad news?
That $123 million opening is a franchise low in the U.S. for a new Hunger Games movie. The debut is down 19 percent from the 2012 debut of The Hunger Games, which brought in $152.5 million. It's also down 22 percent from last year's The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which earned $158.1 million. This would seem to suggest that while the franchise is still among the most successful in film right now, it's losing a bit of steam. And this, despite the gargantuan tons of hype, promotion and pre-sale tickets that went into it.
But really, it's all a bit alarmist.
For one, the franchise ends next year anyway, once The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 hits theaters. Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, while it may not have opened as well as its two predecessors, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 is currently the fifteenth biggest opening of all time (not accounting for inflation, of course). In addition, the franchise is the first in history to have its first three installments open above $120 million. Not even Transformers or the Iron Man films can claim that. So I wouldn't exactly freak out about the future of the franchise. Hell, this movie could end up having the best legs of any film in the franchise, considering it's one half of a whole, meaning fans just might find themselves coming back to it multiple times in preparation for the big finale.
Okay, that's probably a stretch, but it's not inconceivable that the movie will finish somewhere close to half a billion dollars by the end of its run. The Hunger Games finished with $408,010,692, and Catching Fire improved on that total with $424,668,047. Admittedly, Mockingjay is hurt somewhat by the lack of an IMAX opening, due to the ongoing presence of Interstellar in most theaters, but the movie should still turn one hell of a profit by the time it leaves theaters for good.
But beyond all the Hunger Games talk, it was actually a pretty strong weekend at the box office, overall.
Disney's Big Hero 6 came in No. 2 with $20.1 million, while Interstellar neared $450 million worldwide with its $15.1 million haul in North America. However, the news wasn't so good for last week's number one movie, as Dumb and Dumber To fell 62 percent in its second weekend. The comedy sequel brought in just $13.8 million, bringing its North American total to $57.5 million. Rounding out the Top 5 was Gone Girl, which continues its awards season run with a $2.8 million for the weekend, bringing its total to an impressive $156.8 million.
You can check out the full Top 10 below:
1. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1 ($123 million)
2. Big Hero 6 ($20.1 million)
3. Interstellar ($15.1 million)
4. Dumb and Dumber To ($13.8 million)
5. Gone Girl ($2.8 million)
6. Beyond the Lights ($2.6 million)
7. St. Vincent ($2.4 million)
8. Fury ($1.9 million)
9. Birdman ($1.9 million)
10. The Theory of Everything ($1.5 million)
Credit: Lionsgate