Black Friday seems to start earlier every year and that may be having an effect on the North American box office. This year, stores opened as early as 5-6pm on Thanksgiving. This is one of the reasons analysts believe the Thanksgiving box office was down 21% from last year. Fox's distribution chief Chris Aronson voiced his concern, “We need to look at this trend closer going forward.”
It wasn't all bad, Lionsgate's The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part I pulled in $82.6M from Wednesday to Sunday and $57.9M of that came from Friday to Sunday. It now has the third best five-day total during the Thanksgiving holiday. Only films that did better during that span were Catching Fire with $109.9M and Frozen with $93.6M.
Another reason the box office was off was because newcomers, Horrible Bosses 2 and Penguins of Madagascar, both underperformed. Horrible Bosses 2 was expected to bring in $35M during the five-day period, but only did $23M. It finished in fifth-place. Penguins of Madagascar was expected to bring in $45M, but it only grossed $36M during the five-day span. Still strong enough for the DreamWorks Animation film to finish in second. Coming in third was Big Hero 6 with $26M for the five-day and $18.7 for the three-day. After four weeks Disney's animated superhero film now has a $167.2M domestic haul. Not too shabby.
1). The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part I (LGF)
4,151 theaters / $24.1M Fri. /$21.85M Sat. (-t%)/ $10.9M Sun. (-%)
3-day cume: $56.87M (-53%)/5-day cume: $82.685M/Total cume: $225.7M/ Wk 2
2). The Penguins Of Madagascar (FOX)
3,764 theaters (+110 from Wed.) / $10.45M Fri. / $9.65M Sat. (-8%)/$5.7M Sun. (-41%)
3-day cume: $25.8M/ 5-day cume: $36M / Wk 1
3). Big Hero 6 (DIS)
3,365 theaters (-285) / $7.7M Fri. / $7.2M Sat. (-6%)/ $3.8M Sun. (-47%)
3-day cume: $18.77M (-7%)/5-day cume: $26M/ Total Cume: $167.2M /Wk 4
4). Interstellar (PAR)
3,066 theaters (-349) / $6.6M Fri. /$6.1M Sat. (-8%)/ $3.1M Sun. (-49%)
3-day cume: $15.8M (+3%) /5-day cume: $22M/ Total cume: $147.1M / Wk 4
5). Horrible Bosses 2 (WB/New Line)
3,375 theaters (+54 from Wed.)/$6.2M Fri./$6.125M Sat. (-1%)/$3.375M Sun (-45%)
3-day cume: $15.7M/5-day cume: $23.0M/Wk 1
6). Dumb and Dumber To (UNI)
3,130 theaters (-58) / $3.38M Fri./ $3.396M Sat. (+17%)/ $1.519M Sun. (-55%)
3-day cume: $8.295M (-41%)/5-day cume:$11.6M/ Total Cume: $72.2M /Wk 3
7). The Theory Of Everything (FOC)
802 theaters (+662) / $1.93M Fri. /$1.97M Sat. (+2%)/$1.18M Sun. (-40%)
3-day cume: $5.08M (+236%)/ 5-day cume: $6.43M/Total cume: $9.6M / Wk 4
8). Gone Girl (FOX)
1,174 theaters (-435) / $1M Fri. /$1.01M Sat. (+1%)/ $457K Sun. (-55%)
3-day cume: $2.47M (-13%)/ 5-day cume: $3.26M/Total cume: $160.8M / Wk 9
9). Birdman (FSL)
710 theaters (-152) / 740K Fri. /$750K Sat. (+1%)/$390K Sun. (-48%)
3-day cume: $1.88M (+1%)/5-day cume: $2.4M/ Total cume: $17.2M /Wk 7
10). St. Vincent (TWC)
1,256 theaters (-451) / $719K Fri./ $680K Sat.(-5%)/ $374K Sun. (-45%)
3-day cume: $1.77M (-21%)/5-day cume:$2.34M/ Total cume: $39.3M / Wk 8
The worldwide phenomenon of The Hunger Games continues to set the world on fire with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1, which finds Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) in District 13 after she literally shatters the games forever. Under the leadership of President Coin (Julianne Moore) and the advice of her trusted friends, Katniss spreads her wings as she fights to save Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and a nation moved by her courage. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 is directed by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay by Danny Strong and Peter Craig and produced by Nina Jacobson's Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik. The novel on which the film is based is the third in a trilogy written by Suzanne Collins that has over 65 million copies in print in the U.S. alone.
Lionsgate presents, a Color Force / Lionsgate production, a Francis Lawrence film.