When is a $100 million debut disappointing? When it’s The Hunger Games. The final film in Lionsgate’s series barely passed $100 million, according to early estimates from Sunday.
While The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 got off to a decent start with $16 million on Thursday, the film finished the weekend with $101 million. Of course, it sounds incredibly silly to call this a flop, but Lionsgate has to feel a bit deflated this morning because of how well the previous three films in the series did.
Back in March 2012, The Hunger Games debuted with $152.5 million, then the series got even bigger when Catching Fire grossed $158 million when it opened in November 2013. Last year’s Mockingjay - Part 1 opened to $121.8 million. However, some thought that Mockingjay 2 would do better as the final film in the series.
Still, Box Office Mojo notes Mockingjay 2 is the fifth 2015 film to debut with $100 million or more.
Up next was Spectre, which fell really hard in its third weekend. The latest James Bond film only added $14.6 million, bringing its domestic haul to $153.7 million. The Peanuts Movie followed with $12.8 million, so its domestic total is now at $98.9 million.
Sony’s holiday comedy The Night Before, which stars Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, opened to $10.1 million. STX’s The Secret In Their Eyes with Julia Roberts rounded out the top 5 with just $6.6 million.
Other interesting notes: Spotlight continued pulling in audiences, grossing $3.6 million from just 598 locations. It has now grossed $5.8 million before going wide. Brooklyn also did well, making $1.15 million from 111 locations and bringing its total to $2.15 million before going wide.
Todd Haynes’ Carol opened to $248,149 from just four locations.