Weekend Report: 'Mockingjay' Can't Catch 'Fire'
As expected, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 easily scored the biggest debut of the year this weekend.
However, the third movie in the immensely popular franchise did drop off dramatically from its predecessors, and even wound up below the penultimate chapters in the Harry Potter and Twilight franchises.
Playing at 4,151 theaters, Mockingjay opened to $121.9 million this weekend. That's well above Transformers: Age of Extinction's $100 million debut, which was the previous high for 2014. Overall, this opening weekend ranks 15th all-time.
Mockingjay's debut doesn't compare favorably to the other movies in the Hunger Games franchise, though: it's down 23 percent from Catching Fire's $158 million, and is also significantly lower than the original movie's $152 million. More surprising is the fact that Mockingjay wound up lower than Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1's $125 million and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1's $138 million.
It's worth noting up front that Lionsgate is going to make a ton of money on this movie, both domestically and internationally. This opening reinforces that The Hunger Games is one of the most popular and successful big-screen franchises ever.
At the same time, a 23 percent drop going in to the penultimate installment is stunning for a series that's been as well-managed and well-received as this one.
As covered extensively in the weekend forecast, Mockingjay had a lot working against it. The final book in the Hunger Games franchise is widely regarded as the least successful, and surely some viewers weren't interested in paying to see only the first half of that story.
The movie also lacked the strong marketing hook that the first two had—if you want to see the games, you need to buy a ticket—and received noticeably weaker reviews. Finally, this was the first installment that wasn't on IMAX screens: along with a tiny hit in direct revenue, this also served to lessen the movie's "event" status.
If Mockingjay holds up like the first two Hunger Games movies, it will close with around $325 million, which would put it below Guardians of the Galaxy. It's rare that the third movie in a franchise holds up as well as its predecessors, though: a more likely outcome is a total just over $300 million.
Around-the-World Roundup
Coinciding with its domestic debut, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay—Part 1 opened in 85 international markets as well this weekend. That includes all major territories except China and Japan.
The penultimate chapter in the Hunger Games franchise earned an estimated $152 million, which is up four percent from Catching Fire across the same markets. Its top markets were the U.K. ($19.9 million) and Germany ($13.7 million); that's the biggest opening of the year in Germany, and will likely be the biggest in the U.K. as well. In Russia, it opened to $11.1 million, which is a 19 percent improvement over Catching Fire (that's the biggest jump for a major market).
Mockingjay's other major openings included France ($10.5 million), Mexico ($12.1 million), Australia ($10.1 million), Brazil ($8.8 million), Italy ($5.3 million), Spain ($5.2 million) and South Korea ($3.5 million).
Catching Fire wrapped up with $440 million overseas; with China and Japan on the way, Mockingjay should get to a similar level.
Source:
Box Office Mojo