“Mockingjay” Passes $200M Over Holiday Frame
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 rolled through Thanksgiving as the top film two weeks in a row. The sequel pulled in an estimated $56.9 million from Friday to Sunday. Over the five-day frame, Mockingjay closed in on $83 million.
DreamWorks Animation’s Penguins of Madagascar debuted in second with $25.8 million. That’s less than half of previous two Madagascar debuts. Big Hero 6 bumped down to third with $18.8 million. The Disney film crossed $150 million on Friday.
Interstellar increased 3% from last weekend, claiming fourth place. The Christopher Nolan film grossed another $15.8 million in its fourth weekend. Newcomer Horrible Bosses 2 rounded out the top 5 with $15.7 million. The second installment dropped nearly 50% from its 2011 predecessor.
Note: These #’s are based on Sunday’s projections and can change with Monday’s actual #’s.
#1 – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 1 (1)
$56.9 million / $225.7 million total
Last weekend, Mockingjay’s $121 million was slightly underwhelming. Going into the holiday weekend, several box office pundits were even questioning whether the film would cross $300 million. Fortunately for Mockingjay, its sophomore frame matched Catching Fire’s 53.3% drop. With no major threats debuting this Friday, Mockingjay will claim three straight weekends. That’s an improvement from Catching Fire. Last year’s installment only won out twice.
#2 – Penguins of Madagascar (NR)
$25.8 million / $36.0 million total
Fans of the Madagascar franchise love its penguins. Yet, when it’s comes to them getting their own spin-off film, it doesn’t show. Penguins of Madagascar debuted with nearly $26 million over the weekend. Both Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa and its sequel Europe’s Most Wanted cleared $60 million opening weekend. Its debut nears 2012’s Rise of the Guardians, which barely cracked the century mark. Unlike Guardians, Penguins isn’t a holiday-themed film that will carry over for the next month. Finishing under $100 million is most likely.
#3 – Big Hero 6 (2)
$18.8 million / $167.2 million total
The big question last weekend was how much Penguins of Madagascar would affect Big Hero 6? The answer. Not at all. The Disney hit dipped 6.7% from last weekend. Big Hero 6 is proving to be the family film of the holidays. Performing stronger than previous Disney November releases (Wreck-It Ralph, Tangled), Big Hero 6 should pass $200 million before Christmas.
#4 – Interstellar (3)
$15.8 million / $147.1 million total
Interstellar was the only mainstream film in the top 10 to increase from last weekend. Limited releases, The Theory of Everything and Birdman also increased this frame. After four weeks, the Christopher Nolan film will be crossing $150 million early this week. Despite its less-than-stellar start, Interstellar has gained momentum to finish above $175-180 million.
#5 –Horrible Bosses 2 (NR)
$15.7 million / $23.0 million total
The biggest box office turkey this weekend was clearly Horrible Bosses 2. The comedy sequel opened to just over half its 2011 predecessor (28.3 million). With Dumb and Dumber To fading quickly, Horrible Bosses was expected to score a larger opening haul. Granted the first film opened in July as opposed to November. Still, an increase of negative reviews hasn’t helped the Warner Brothers comedy. At this point, a Horrible Bosses 3 is very much in question.
Opening Next Week: The Pyramid
Source: Box Office Mojo
