Although a franchise low, when the penultimate Hunger Games film, Mockingjay, hit cinemas last weekend it became the year’s biggest debut in the US. Its $120 million takings surpassed the likes of Transformers: Age of Extinction, Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Godzilla. Its takings could excel in the traditional Thanksgiving weekend boost but two highly lucrative new entries are posing a threat: Penguins of Madagascar is Dreamworks’ new spin off of their smash hit animation franchise, Madagascar; Horrible Bosses 2 is a dark, star studded comedy sequel to a first that gained over $200 million worldwide in 2011. In the UK it challenges the new release of family comedy Paddington. Last week, we predicted that it’d be The Hunger Games slaying for the second week in a row but let’s find out what happens in this tough battle.
US:
- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – Director: Francis Lawrence – $57 million
- Penguins of Madagascar – Eric Darnell, Simon J Smith – $25.4 million
- Big Hero 6 – Don Hall, Chris Williams – $18.8 million
- Interstellar – Christopher Nolan – $15.7 million
- Horrible Bosses – Sean Anders – $15.5 million
UK:
- Paddington – Paul King – £5.1 million
- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – Francis Lawrence – £4.9 million
- The Imitation Game – Morten Tyldum – £1.4 million
- Horrible Bosses 2 – Sean Anders – £1.3 million
- Interstellar – Christopher Nolan – £1.2 million
Mockingjay has won but it has still conceded a 53% drop but its new contestants have truly suffered: Penguins’ $25 million will disappoint, especially considering Madagascar 3’s $750 million worldwide; Horrible Bosses 2’s major slip from the first film’s $28 million calls into the question the possibility of a sequel. Franchise figureheads Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day would sign on but this flop may deter the A-listers Jamie Foxx, Kevin Spacey, Chris Pine, Jennifer Aniston and Christoph Waltz from returning. Despite a shaky opening, Interstellar actually gained traction this week with a minor increase in takings and entering the year’s global top ten. Paddington’s very British brand of humour has evidently appealed in its home market. This week I’ve scored 3/10.
US:
- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – Francis Lawrence
- Penguins of Madagascar – Eric Darnell, Simon J Smith
- Interstellar – Christopher Nolan
- Big Hero 6 – Don Hall, Chris Williams
- Horrible Bosses 2 – Sean Anders
UK:
- Paddington – Paul King
- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
- Penguins of Madagascar – Eric Darnell, Simon J Smith
- The Imitation Game – Morten Tyldum
- Black Sea – Kevin MacDonald
Jennifer Lawrence and Julianne Moore in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, this week’s US number one.
Sally Hawkins and Ben Whishaw in Paddington, this week’s UK number one.
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