Box office report: Mockingjay tops Thanksgiving weekend
A trio of new wide releases weren’t enough to take down Katniss Everdeen, as The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 led the Thanksgiving weekend box office.
Mockingjay – Part 2 raked in $51.6 million over Thanksgiving weekend for a five-day total of $75.8 million. Although Part 2 is still trailing behind the first Mockingjay, which earned $82.7 million over the five-day Thanksgiving weekend last year, Part 2 held up better in its second weekend than any other Hunger Games movie, falling only 50 percent. Mockingjay Part 2 also brought in $62 million internationally over the three-day weekend, bringing its global total to $440.7 million. To date, the entire Hunger Games film franchise has grossed $2.7 billion worldwide.
Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur led the new releases, becoming the second Pixar movie ever not to open at No. 1. Debuting to $39.2 million over three days and $55.6 million over five, The Good Dinosaur earned the fourth biggest five-day Thanksgiving opening of all time, but its debut was somewhat lackluster for a Pixar movie, as most of the studio’s releases open around $60 million or higher across three days. This was the first time that Pixar has ever released two films in the same year, and The Good Dinosaur couldn’t match the astronomical success of Inside Out, which earned the largest debut ever for a completely original film. Although The Good Dinosaur wasn’t met with the same critical adoration as Inside Out, it still earned an A CinemaScore. Plus, The Good Dinosaur’s debut means that Disney now holds all five of the biggest Thanksgiving five-day openings of all time.
But although Mockingjay – Part 2 and The Good Dinosaur both topped the charts this Thanksgiving, one of the biggest successes of the weekend was Creed, which knocked out expectations for a three-day debut of $30.1 million and a five-day total of $42.6 million. With a budget of about $37 million and an A CinemaScore, the Rocky follow-up has Sylvester Stallone reprising his role as the aging boxer and Michael B. Jordan starring as the illegitimate son of Rocky’s former opponent Apollo Creed.
And this weekend’s final new wide release, Victor Frankenstein, failed to, well, come alive, only earning $2.4 million over three days and $3.4 million over five. Starring James McAvoy as Dr. Frankenstein and Daniel Radcliffe as Igor, Victor Frankenstein didn’t even break into the top 10, and it only snagged a C CinemaScore. The retelling of Mary Shelley’s classic was originally scheduled to open in October 2014, and it was shuffled to January before finally opening this Thanksgiving.
Spectre and The Peanuts Movie rounded out the top five, with James Bond bringing in $12.8 million over three days and $18.2 million over five for a domestic total of $176.1 million. Charlie Brown raked in another $9.7 million over the three-day weekend and $13.6 million over five days, bringing its domestic total to $116.8 million.
Outside of the top five, The Danish Girl got off to a good start, opening to $185,000 in four locations. The drama, which stars Eddie Redmayne as transgender pioneer Lili Elbe, earned a per-theater average of $46,250. The romantic drama Carol also had a phenomenal weekend in just four theaters, earning $203,000 over five days for a domestic total of $588,000.
Spotlight and Brooklyn also had continued box office success as they each expanded their theater count, earning $4.5 million and $3.8 million respectively over the three-day frame. Spotlight’s domestic total is now at $12.3 million, and Brooklyn has brought in a total of $7.3 million.
Here are this weekend’s top five at the box office. (All numbers are for the five-day frame, Wednesday through Sunday.)
1. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 — $75.8 million
2. The Good Dinosaur — $55.6 million
3. Creed —$42.6 million
4. Spectre —$18.2 million
5. The Peanuts Movie —$13.6 million