It looks likeThe Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2willnotbe the first film inThe Hunger Gamesfranchise to fall to second place in its sophomore weekend. The fourth and final film in the blockbuster series took in a reported $21.2 million on Black Friday: the unofficial start of the holiday movie season. Yesterday’s estimate was slightly higher than expected and means thatMockingjay 2will stay on top of the box office with about $50 million for the three-day weekend and $74 million over the five-day Thanksgiving frame. That’s less thanMockingjay 1earned at the same time last year but, back in 2014, Katniss didn’t face much competition to speak of (sorryPenguins of Madagascar).
This yearThe Hunger Gameswent up againstThe Good Dinosaur, the second Disney/Pixar release of 2015. Compared to the outsized success of July’sInside Out(it’s currently the third biggest movie of 2015 and the second biggest in Pixar history), expectations forThe Good Dinosaurwere more modest: about $60 million for its first five days. Even so, based onMockingjay 2’slower-than-expected openinglast weekend and the incredible good will Pixar has built with audiences of all ages, it wasn’t hard to imagineThe Good Dinosaurknocking Katniss out of the top spot.
The Good Dinosaur got off to a good start on Wednesday with an estimated $9.8 million. That’s on par with the $9.5 million thatToy Story 2earned on the day before Thanksgiving back in 1999, not adjusted for inflation. If you’re looking for a fresher comp, be aware that ten ofPixar’s 16 feature filmshave been released during the summer, so a perfect parallel is hard to find. On Black Friday,The Good Dinosaurearned an estimated $15.6 million, which indicates a three-day weekend of $40 million or $55 million for the five-day frame.
In third place on Friday wasCreed, the sixth film to featureSylvester Stalloneas boxer Rocky Balboa following 1976’s Academy Award winningRocky.Creedopened Wednesday with an estimated $6 million and was one of the only films to see its grosses go up on Thanksgiving day – typically one of the box office’s slower days. According to studio estimates,Creedbrought in another $11.7 million yesterday, which puts the film’s weekend projection up to $28 million, or close to $40 million for its first five days.
Thanksgiving’s final new release was Fox’sVictor Frankenstein, which opened at number twelve on Wednesday and has remained there since. From 2,737 locations,Victor Frankensteinearned an estimated $905,000 on Friday, or a painful per-screen average of $304. Prior to its release, tracking hadVictor Frankensteinclaiming $13 million between Wednesday and Sunday. It now seems like a stretch for the movie to hit above $3 million . Naturally, we’ll fill you in on Thanksgiving’s official estimates tomorrow.
Until then, here’s Friday’s top five:
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part 2
$21,250,000
The Good Dinosaur
$15.663,000
$11,700,000
$5,285,000
The Peanuts Movie
$4,000,000
