‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1’ Dominates Black Friday


The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 is looking to reclaim the number one spot at the box office after easily beating two newly released features over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

According to Box Office Mojo, the latest installment of the Hunger Games franchise earned $24.1 million on Black Friday. That’s a 56 percent drop from its opening day, but it’s roughly the same dip that Catching Fire took this time last year. Mockingjay has earned $192.7 million domestically since its debut, and is expected to pass the $230 million mark by the end of the weekend.

Exhibitor Relations noted on its Twitter account that the new Hunger Games entry has earned $400 million worldwide.

Forbes reports that the newest Hunger Games is also the third highest-grossing film for a Black Friday. The first two were Catching Fire ($30 million) and Frozen($26 million), both of which were released last year.

The latest Hunger Games film didn’t have a problem fending off two new wide releases. DreamWorks Animations’ Penguins of Madagascar brought in $10.5 million on Friday and is expected to earn about $27 million for the whole weekend. That would make it the lowest-opening film in the Madagascar franchise.

Horrible Bosses 2 also didn’t stand a chance against the new Hunger Games film. The comedy sequel earned just $6.2 million on Friday. It’s expected to bring in $15 million for the weekend and $23 million in total since its Wednesday opening. That means it will earn less than the $28.3 million its 2011 predecessor brought in during its first weekend.

Disney’s Big Hero 6 brought in $7.74 million and is looking to earn $19 million, while Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar earned $6.6 million and is expected to earn $16 million. So far, the films have earned respective totals of $156.2 million and $137.9 million.

The latest Hunger Games film scored $123 million during its debut weekend. While that’s a strong opening, it’s also less than what its predecessors made. As the Inquisitr previously reported, there are two possible reasons why the latest Hunger Games entry earned less than the first two films. One reason could be that it’s the first in the franchise to not be shown in IMAX, which is playing Interstellar. Another reason is because it’s the first part in the final chapter of the Hunger Games trilogy, and fans decided to wait until its Blu-ray release to watch it before seeing the second part in theaters next year.

[Image credit: Lionsgate Films via Screen Rant]

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