The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 is still likely to have the highest opening for any movie this year, but after bringing in $17 million from early, Thursday night screenings it is already 33% behind the $25.3 million The Hunger Games: Catching Fire brought in last year and even 14% below the $19.7 million earned by The Hunger Games back in 2012. So what gives?
Well, the East Coast is snowed in and this one doesn’t have the IMAX bump Catching Fire enjoyed. Nevertheless, it’s still lower than most probably expected and I think that’s going to continue over throughout the weekend and for its overall box office run. I don’t expect Mockingjay to top the $864+ million Catching Fire earned worldwide, though it should manage to best the $691.2 million the first Hunger Games managed, if only by about $60 million or so. The biggest problem it faces is it doesn’t have that “rewatchable” factor. Unless you’re a die hard fan, you don’t want to watch it more than once and that’s how these films pump themselves up into the stratosphere.
On the bright side, and where the film could certainly prove me wrong, is Lionsgate is reporting Mockingjay is up 5% internationally so far compared to Catching Fire‘s returns, proving to be the top opener of the year in places such as Australia, South Korea, Scandinavia and Benelux.
As for box office predictions, it looks like both Laremy and the readers may have overshot Mockingjay‘s chances. I’ve included Laremy’s predictions and the average reader predictions directly below and I’ll be back on Sunday with box office estimates. To see Laremy’s full list of predictions and all 90 reader predictions for this weekend click here.
Laremy’s Predictions
- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – $166.5 million
- Big Hero 6 – $24.2 million
- Interstellar – $18.4 million
- Dumb and Dumber To – $15.9 million
Your Predictions
- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – $158.8 million
- Big Hero 6 – $22.8 million
- Interstellar – $17.6 million
- Dumb and Dumber To – $15.4 million
Early box office numbers via Variety
