Last 'Hunger Games' opens to franchise low of $101 million
LOS ANGELES (AP) — "Mockingjay — Part 2," the final "Hunger Games" film, soared to a $101 million opening in its first weekend in theaters, according to Rentrak estimates Sunday.
For most films, the figure would be a coup, but the latest chapter of "The Hunger Games" collected the lowest opening take among the four films in the series.
The series starring Jennifer Lawrence kicked off with a bang in March 2012 with a massive $152.5 million weekend — one of the highest openings of all time.
"Catching Fire," the second film in the franchise, one-upped that with a $158.1 million debut in November 2013.
Lionsgate split the final book in Suzanne Collins' trilogy into two films, following the precedent of "Twilight" and "Harry Potter."
"Mockingjay — Part 1" opened on this weekend last year to $121.9 million, considered at the time to be a necessary and expected dip while fans awaited the final installment, which, if it had mimicked "Twilight" or "Harry Potter," would have snared at least the second-highest (if not highest) opening in the series.
The overall franchise has grossed over $2 billion worldwide and counting, said David Spitz, co-president of theatrical distribution for Lionsgate.
Just two weekends ago, "Spectre," which fell to second place this week with $14.6 million, failed to live up to the domestic opening of "Skyfall," the previous James Bond film.
With $12.8 million, "The Peanuts Movie" finished behind "Spectre" and ahead of the Seth Rogen holiday comedy "The Night Before," which earned an expected $10.1 million.
Opening early seemed like a really good prelude to the Thanksgiving weekend where it will expand beautifully, said Rory Bruer, Sony's president of worldwide distribution.
The Julia Roberts thriller "The Secret in Their Eyes," a remake of the Oscar-winning Argentinian film, debuted wide this weekend to $6.6 million from 2,392 locations — slightly under expectations.
Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by 21st Century Fox; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.