Mockingjay’, Similar To Previous ‘Hunger Games’, Relaxes Saturday: Weekend B.O., Similar to its first two installments, Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 eased Saturday from its opening day Friday, however this time, the third title dipped 23%, a bit better than the 25% slide registered by both The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. After a $55M Friday opening (including previews), Mockingjay‘s Saturday looks to croon an estimated $42.1M on its way to a low $120Ms weekend. Saturday sophomore slump is a typical phenomenon with fanboy/fangirl/YA pics like Twilight, Hunger Games and Harry Potter: They’re front-loaded.
Everyone rushes out to see them on Thursday and Friday night, and then it declines from there. Scott Bowles will be reporting with Sunday AM figures tomorrow.
We expounded last night why Mockingjay Part 1, posted the lowest opening to date in the franchise. Again, you can have all studio marketing cylinders firing on cue, the right star alignment and the ideal holiday opening date, but sometimes these big pics dip simply based on their own DNA, and Mockingjay is darker than its predecessors. What Quidditch games are to Harry Potter films, tropical arena battles are to Hunger Games, and most of the action in Mockingjay takes place in war bunkers and war-torn districts.
There’s a lot of discussion of revolution, but no great overhaul. Not to mention, the cast’s flaming costumes in previous films have been traded here for proletariat Orwellian-like garb (even Elizabeth Banks’ Effie Trinket sacrifices her glamour wigs and cheek rouge for war time). However, think about it story-wise: If the franchise is meant to go out with a bang, it can’t shoot off all its fireworks in its penultimate title. Mockingjay is trending on Twitter Los Angeles and at a quick glance, some youngins’ are upset with the cliffhanger. One Twitter fan nicknamed @hungershades tweeted the following photo:
Another statistical phenomenon going on with these splintered feature lit adaptation finales is that the first part typically logs a lower bow than the second. Again, this is largely based on the two properties that have practiced it to date: Harry Potter and Twilight. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1 posted a three-day opening of $125M, 26% lower than the $169.2M opening for Deathly Hallows Part 2. (granted, the latter was boosted by 3D prices, though both were in IMAX). Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn 1 registered a FSS of $138.1M, just 2% lower than Breaking Dawn 2′s opening weekend of $141.1M.
Aside from Mockingjay, everyone else in the top 5 posted higher figures on Saturday over Friday
