LOS ANGELES – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 dominated the weekend box office. The final film in the science-fiction franchise debuted to $101 million, but even that massive figure wasn’t as big a sendoff for Katniss Everdeen and her fellow revolutionaries as some had predicted.
The bow ranks as the year’s fifth biggest opening, but it falls short of tracking that projected the picture would top $120 million in its initial weekend in theatres. It also represents a low for the series, falling far short of the $158.1 million high-water mark established by 2013’s The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. It’s a sign, perhaps, that interest in the dystopian world of Panem has crested.
Investors in Lionsgate, the studio behind the series, reacted negatively to news that Mockingjay – Part 2 would miss projections, sending the company’s stock down more than 3% on Friday. For its part, the studio was put in the odd position of almost having to defend a debut that ranks among the largest in movie history.
With Mockingjay – Part 2 sucking most of the air out the multiplexes that left two new releases, Sony’s The Night Before and STX/IM Global’s The Secret In Their Eyes, struggling to get some recognition. (Variety/Reuters)
