"Mockingjay - Part 1" is #1 for Third Consecutive Week

[JamesG]

Weekend Report: Hunger Games Leads One of the Worst Weekends of the Year
by Ray Subers
December 7, 2014



The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 easily retained the top spot over a very slow post-Thanksgiving weekend.

Without a single new nationwide release, the domestic box office took a dive: the Top 12 earned an estimated $70.4 million, which is essentially tied for the second-worst weekend of the year.







In its third weekend, Mockingjay fell 62 percent to an estimated $21.6 million. While that drop looks steep, it's actually a slight improvement over Catching Fire's 65 percent drop at the same point last year.

To date, Mockingjay has earned $257.7 million, which ranks fourth for the year (it will be in second place by Tuesday). If it follows Catching Fire's pattern from here, it will wrap up with around $330 million.








Penguins of Madagascar took second place with $11.1 million, which is off 56 percent from its opening. In comparison, Rise of the Guardians only fell 44 percent on this same weekend in 2012.

Penguins is now less than $1 million ahead of Guardians — $49.6 million vs. $48.8 million — and is on track to wrap up below $100 million.








Horrible Bosses 2 added $8.6 million, which is off a light 44 percent. That's a very strong hold for the weekend after Thanksgiving, when even the strongest titles typically drop at least 50 percent (last year's Frozen, for example).

Still, the Bosses sequel has only earned $36.1 million so far; even if it continues to hold well, it probably won't make it past $60 million.








Big Hero 6 fell 57 percent to $8.13 million. To date, the Disney Animation hit has grossed $177.5 million, and remains on track to eventually cruise past $200 million.

Interstellar eased 49 percent to an estimated $8 million. The Christopher Nolan sci-fi epic has so far grossed $158.7 million, and is now guaranteed to close with at least $175 million.







Stephen Hawking biopic The Theory of Everything fell 47 percent to an estimated $2.7 million this weekend. That's a slightly disappointing drop: compare that to Philomena, which was off 40 percent on the same weekend last year.

Still, The Theory of Everything has already earned $13.6 million, and is well-positioned for a nice run through the holiday season.







20th Century Fox released horror movie The Pyramid at 589 theaters, which is just shy of the 600-theater threshold for "nationwide" release. The movie earned an estimated $1.35 million, which put it in ninth place behind fellow Fox movie Gone Girl (which is in its 10th weekend).

It would be easy to beat up on this, but it's actually an example of a studio making a really smart financial decision. Fox seemed to recognize that this low-budget horror movie — which was oddly reminiscent of August's As Above/So Below — didn't have a lot of theatrical potential in the U.S.

Instead of spending the marketing dollars it would require to open this in 2,000 theaters, they opted for a much more modest release. This isn't a sustainable business model — a major studio isn't going to cover overhead if they're doing this a dozen times each year — but in this particularly situation it seems to have been a savvy move.







Opening at 21 locations, Wild earned an estimated $630,000 this weekend. While its per-theater average of $30,000 pales in comparison to past early December releases like Black Swan ($80,212) and Up in the Air ($78,763), it's still a good result.

Fox Searchlight is planning to have this in close to 100 theaters next weekend, then expand to at least 800 locations by Christmas Day.







In its second weekend, The Imitation Game expanded to eight theaters and earned an estimated $402,000.

That translates to an impressive $50,250 per-theater average.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3973&p=.htm









December 5-7, 2014 Weekend Studio Estimates:


1. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 $21,600,000 / $257,700,000
2. Penguins of Madagascar $11,100,000 / $49,591,000
3. Horrible Bosses 2 $8,600,000 / $36,075,000
4. Big Hero 6 $8,130,000 / $177,548,000
5. Interstellar $8,000,000 / $158,657,000
6. Dumb and Dumber 2 $4,169,000 / $78,081,000
7. The Theory of Everything $2,668,000 / $13,613,000
8. Gone Girl $1,500,000 / $162,861,000
9. Pyramid $1,350,000
10. Birdman $1,150,000 / $18,919,000

[Tubehead]

Exodus: Gods and kings comes out today!! I wonder if it will take down the hunger games?

[irehtman]

Part 2 next year.

[adultescent]

I'm very happy Jennifer Lawrence was cast in the lead role in The Hunger Games movies, as she takes acting very seriously, and I really noticed that in the latest movie...