Despite lower ratings compared to previous releases, “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1” remains an extremely tough contender at the box office. The film based on the novels by the American author Suzanne Collins becomes the third-highest Thanksgiving five-day gross on record, falling just behind “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” and “Frozen (2013)”. According to the number crunchers, “Mockingjay Part 1” added $83 million during the five-day Thanksgiving holiday and $56.9 million for the three-day weekend. Lionsgate is smiling all the way to bank with its fourth film to debut at number 1 on Thanksgiving weekend after “Catching Fire” and two “Twilight: Breaking Dawn” installments.
Check out the trailer for “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1”
‘Mockingjay Part 1’ Beats ‘Penguins of Madagascar’ at the Box Office
“Penguins of Madagascar” was the only film that could have posed a threat over the weekend, debuting to an estimated $25.8 million. The DreamWorks animation failed to dethrone the Lionsgate actioner, but still impressed with a decent take at the box office. Produced on a budget of $132 million, DreamWorks will be relying on the holidays to carry them through. This time round we get to discover the secrets of the most entertaining and mysterious birds in the global espionage game. Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private now must join forces with the chic spy organization, the North Wind, led by Agent Classified voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch to stop the villainous Dr. Octavius Brine, voiced by John Malkovich, from taking over the world.
Penguins of Madagascar trailer
Last week’s number two, “Big Hero 6” falls one spot to number three, followed by Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar” in fourth place with $15.8 million. “Horrible Bosses 2” is very slow out block during its official debut weekend, raking in approximately $15.7 million for the three-day weekend in fifth place. The R-Rated comedy starring Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis failed to reach its $40 million projection after scoring B+ on CinemaScore. Review aggregator Rottentomatoes.com dished out very poor scores as well, with most critics leaning toward a “Rotten” rating. Here is what they had to say:
“Horrible Bosses 2 may trigger a few belly laughs among big fans of the original, but all in all, it’s a waste of a strong cast that fails to justify its own existence.”
Quick look at the top-grossing pictures in North American theaters, courtesy of Box Office Mojo:
- “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1” – $56.9 million
- “Penguins of Madagascar” – $25.8 million
- “Big Hero 6” – $18.8 million
- “Interstellar” – $15.8 million
- “Horrible Bosses 2” – $15.7 million
- “Dumb and Dumber To” – $8.3 million
- “The Theory of Everything” -$5.1 million
- “Gone Girl” – $2.5 million
- “Birdman” – $1.9 million
- “St. Vincent” – $1.8 million
