Weekend box office: What final 'Hunger Games' movie tells us about Hollywood
'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay 鈥� Part 2' topped the box office this past weekend, but the film also had the lowest opening of the series. Here's a look at how Hollywood plans its franchises and what accounts for the performance of 'Mockingjay.'
'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay 鈥� Part 2' topped the box office this past weekend, but the film also had the lowest opening of the series. Here's a look at how Hollywood plans its franchises and what accounts for the performance of 'Mockingjay.'
The last 鈥淗unger Games鈥� movie, "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay 鈥� Part 2," arrived this past weekend, but it didn't take off quite as high as previous installments.
鈥淭he Hunger Games: Mockingjay 鈥� Part 2,鈥� which is the fourth and final installment in the series based on the books by Suzanne Collins, had the lowest opening weekend gross of any of the 鈥淕ames鈥� movies. 鈥淢ockingjay鈥� placed first at the box office with a gross of $101 million but that鈥檚 $20 million less than the previous installment鈥檚 domestic opening weekend, the previous lowest opener of the series.聽
鈥淢ockingjay鈥� stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth. Lawrence portrays main character Katniss Everdeen, who lives in a dystopian world with an oppressive government.
Meanwhile, previous box office champions proved hard to dislodge on the rest of the list. The James Bond movie 鈥淪pectre,鈥� which opened at the beginning of this month, grossed more than $14 million this past weekend to come in at second place. The animated film 鈥淭he Peanuts Movie鈥� came in third, grossing more than $12 million.聽
The new movies 鈥淭he Night Before鈥� (a comedy starring Seth Rogen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Anthony Mackie) and the drama 鈥淭he Secret in Their Eyes鈥� (it stars Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman, and Chiwetel Ejiofor) opened in fourth and fifth, respectively. 鈥淣ight鈥� grossed more than $10 million and 鈥淪ecret鈥� took in more than $6 million.
Those are obviously low numbers and reviews for both films were not positive. In addition, 鈥淣ight鈥� will face holiday comedy competition when the Tina Fey and Amy Poehler film 鈥淪isters鈥� debuts next month.
As for 鈥淕ames,鈥� what accounts for the movie鈥檚 opening weekend performance? A $101 million opening is, of course, not bad by any measurement. But movie studios like to see their movie openings build on one another as time goes on.
With the 鈥淗arry Potter鈥� movie series, for example, the final installment, 鈥淗arry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,鈥� had the best opening weekend gross of the entire series. 鈥淭he Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn 鈥� Part 2,鈥� the final 鈥淭wilight鈥� film, also did very well, almost matching the previously most successful installment. The second 鈥淒ivergent鈥� 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.聽
In addition, movies continue to gross stratospheric amounts. Of the top 10 highest-grossing films of all time domestically (without adjusting for inflation), seven came out since 2000. Even if one does adjust for inflation, a top-grossing movie like "Gone With the Wind" and "The Sound of Music" came along about once every decade. By contrast, we've seen top-performing films like "The Avengers," "Jurassic World," and "Avatar" within the last six years.
And since the "Games" movies debuted in 2012, they've done so well at the box office that they've increased expectations for themselves. The "Games" movies have set box office records in the past.聽This is why the $101 million opening weekend gross of "Mockingjay" would in any way be counted as less than stellar.
So the comparatively lower opening weekend gross of the final 鈥淕ames" installment certainly stands out. Perhaps the popularity of the book series is waning. On both the Nov. 17 IndieBound and the Nov. 29 New York Times sales lists for young readers鈥� series, the 鈥淕ames鈥� books no longer appear. By contrast, older series like the 鈥淗arry Potter鈥� and 鈥淭wilight鈥� books are still there. 聽聽
In addition, some critics complained that the installment before this one, 鈥淢ockingjay 鈥� Part 1,鈥� was marking time until this new movie. (One book, 鈥淢ockingjay,鈥� was split into two movies.) Perhaps the slowing pace of the story, as the events of one book were split into two films, meant the movies went off audiences' radar.
However, the 鈥淕ames鈥� series has a good history of holding on at the box office. The last 鈥淕ames鈥� movie, 鈥淢ockingjay 鈥� Part 1,鈥� topped the box office for multiple weeks after it was released. 鈥淢ockingjay 鈥� Part 2鈥� could be a champion over the next few weeks and, if it grosses enough, perhaps meet or even surpass the grosses of previous "Games" movies. However, it鈥檚 all but inevitable that the new 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� film will topple "Mockingjay" in mid-December if it can hang on that long.