Mockingjay, Part 1 did not fare as well as the previous Hunger Games films. However, it still had the biggest opening of the year with a whopping $123 million at the weekend box office. This was according to studio estimates last Sunday.
The film opened well below the $158 million debut of last year's film Hunger Games: Catching Fire as well as the $153 million opening of the original one last 2012. However, even with a $30 million with a slide in the movie franchise, the latest movie had far surpassed the previous top weekend of the year which was the $100 million debut of Transformers: Age of Extinction.
According to the head of distribution for Lionsgate David Spitz, "It's the biggest opening of the year, so it really illustrates the strength of the franchise."
The film's debut result, even being the biggest opening of the year, was taken by the market as a disappointment as it fell well below expectations. After the initial box office's numbers were released on Friday, Lions Gate Entertainment's stock fell 5 percent, which is a huge drop.
The final book of Suzanne Collins's dystopian trilogy which was made into film, was split into two movies and had proved to be lucrative for Lionsgate as the first one had done better overseas and made $152 million over the weekend. This also accounts for a $275 million global opening. Spitz, however, had decided not to speak out on the Wall Street's reaction to the opening and the effect of splitting the book into two movies. Spitz just said, "It speaks for itself."
The second film of Mockingjay is scheduled for release in November 2015.
In the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 came at number one with $123 million ($152 million international). Next was Big Hero 6 which came at $20.1 million ($7 million international), followed by Interstellar which generated sales of $15.1 million ($70 million international).
