The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 ruled the Thanksgiving box office with a stellar $82.7 million over the five-day holiday and $56.9 million in its sophomore weekend.
While Lionsgate’s Mockingjay – Part 1 ranks as the third highest-grossing Thanksgiving release with a domestic grand total of $226.7 million, the film wasn’t able to overcome last year’s Catching Fire. The predecessor set a new record as the year’s top grossing film, picking up a massive $110 million over the five-day period. In addition, Disney’s Frozen became last year’s second highest-grossing Thanksgiving week release of all time with a whopping $93 million.
The weekend’s other wide releases disappointed in comparison to the futuristic adventure that featured Katniss Everdeen as the symbol of rebellion. The spinoff of Dreamworks Animation’s Madagascar franchise, Penguins of Madagascar, earned $25.8 million in its first weekend from 3,762 theaters and $36 million over the five-day holiday. The film was expected to bring in between $42 million to $44 million in ticket sales.
Horrible Bosses 2 finished in fifth place with $15.7 million in ticket sales for the weekend. Over the five-day period, the New Line and Warner Bros. feature took in $23 million from 3,375 locations, much less than the $35 million analysts predicted.
“I wish the number was a little bit higher,” said Warner Bros. distribution chief Dan Fellman. “I think we’ll get a good multiple though and end up where we wanted to be — we’ll just get there a little differently.”
Finishing in third place is holdover Big Hero 6 with $18.8 million from 3,365 locations. The animated feature picked up about $26 million over the five days and has made a total of $167.2 million domestically. Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar follows in fourth place with $15.8 million for the weekend and $22 million for the five-day period. The space adventure has gathered a domestic grand total of $147.1 million.
Top 10 Films at Weekend Box Office: November 28-30
- 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
