The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 once again ruled the box office roost this weekend, with $51.6 million, according studio estimates. The Thanksgiving holiday weekend in the States is traditionally a time for families to turn out to the cinema together, often to avoid political squabbles around the dinner table. But politics – at least those of the fictional world of Panem – seemed to be the main concern for movie-going this year...
The final part of the film series adapted from Suzanne Collins’ books saw off competition from Pixar and a buzzed-about recent potential awards contender to stay top of the charts, now rounding $198.3 million in the US and more than $440 million worldwide. It might not be performing to quite the same levels as some of its predecessors, but it’s showing a similar ability to hold on to the faithful.
After some troubles mid-production, a big course correction in terms of story and creative team and a year’s delay, Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur arrived to generally positive (if hardly rapturous) reviews and landed second with $39.1 million for the weekend and $55.5 million when you factor in the five-day release including Thanksgiving itself. Its takings put it on the low end of the spectrum for the company, and opening after Inside Out debuted to such acclaim and a strong run at the box office probably didn’t help – the new baby feels like the lesser child. Still, it was enough for a strong second place and kept the film ahead of Rocky spin-off Creed, which is drawing lots of praise for its story, direction and performances and has already entered the awards conversation. It made $30.1 million for the three-day weekend and $42.6 million overall. Given the healthy word of mouth on this one, it seems likely to go a few more rounds.
In fourth place we find Spectre, which took in $12.8 million this weekend and is past $176 million in the States. Globally, Bond’s latest has crept past $749.5 million, but we don’t yet know if it’ll pass a billion and seriously challenge Skyfall for the 007 crown. The Peanuts Movie was fifth, seemingly facing some of its audience drawn away by the new Pixar film. Snoopy and co earned $9.7 million across the three days.
Holiday comedy The Night Before fell to fourth with $8.2 million, while thriller remake Secret In Their Eyes earned $4.5 million, ahead of Spotlight, which stayed in place at eighth with $4.4 million. Brooklyn expanded its screen count and rose from 12th to ninth on $3.8 million, with the well-reviewed drama now up to $7.2 million in the States. And The Martian felt the pull of gravity and slipped to 10th place and $3.3 million this weekend, though a successful launch in China has boosted the movie past $545 million around the world.
Finally, there’s just time for one of our rare peeks into the murky depths below the top 10, where Victor Frankenstein, despite boasting the presence of Daniel Radcliffe and James McAvoy, was dead on arrival, and even some marketing electricity couldn’t save this quiet monster, which opened to a dismal $2.3 million from 2,797 screens. That’s still better than this year’s ultra-flop Jem And The Holograms, but it’s certainly not good.