‘Hunger Games’ Claims Top Sales, Stars Send Mother’s Day Messages

The Hunger Games, Mockingjay, Part 1, in spite of its somewhat awkward title, has claimed the No. 1 home video sales spot in its first week in stores, according to a Variety report. Hunger Games, which grossed $337 million in the United States alone, managed to score the top spot in both the Nielsen Videoscan First Alert chart (which tracks both Blu-Ray and DVD sales) and the dedicated Blu-Ray chart, pushing Disney’s Big Hero 6 out on both charts by more than two-to-one.

Hunger Games, Mockingjay, the first of a two-part film covering the events of the final book, is more of a political procedural according to a review by The Guardian, which is a major departure for the series, the previous films having focused on the more action-oriented parts of author Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games Trilogy. The Guardian suggests that director Francis Lawrence took advantage of the limitations imposed by Mockingjay, Part 1 to experiment with a different, slower tone, and that by and large it was a success.

The Hunger Games, Mockingjay, Part 1 focuses on the recreation of Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) as revolutionary figurehead “The Mockingjay” and is notably slower-paced than previous installments, and much of the focus is on Plutarch Heavensbee as played by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. Hoffman left one crucial scene from The Hunger Games, Mockingjay, Part 2 unshot at the time of his death as per The Hollywood Reporter but while the studio remains cagey, they don’t seem overly concerned about their ability to move forward and as per a recent Inquisitr report a trailer for Mockingjay, Part 2 is expected out soon.

Meanwhile, the stars of The Hunger Games are taking time out to record some special Mother’s Day clips, about what makes their mothers so special, according to The Daily Express.

“I’d come home and be like, ‘Everyone is calling me weird,’ and she’s like, ‘Well, you are weird, but be yourself.'”

Jennifer Lawrence shared her mother’s rather tongue-in-cheek advice, as she banters with co-star Josh Hutcherson, who plays her sometime-lover Peeta Mellark. Hutcherson reflected on his mother’s own advice of “Treat people the way you want to be treated,” to which Lawrence could not resist responding with a laugh, “How original.”

Sam Clafflin, who plays Finnick Odair in Hunger Games said that his mother was “[his] hero.”

“She makes me proud. […] She’s a real trooper. She’s my hero!”

David Sutherland (President Snow) and Stanley Tucci (Caesar Flickerman) also weighed in, Sutherland paying tribute to both his own mother and the mother of his children. Watch the full video of the Hunger Games Mother’s Day shout-outs, courtesy of The Daily Express.

Mother’s Day aside, The Hunger Games, Mockingjay, Part 2 is set to arrive in theaters November 15, 2015.

[Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images]