"Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2" opens in top spot at box office

PanARMENIAN.Net - "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2" succeeded to top this weekend's box office though its latest win could not surpass its movie predecessors. The Jennifer Lawrence-starrer launched to an estimated $101 million domestically, defeating two other weak newcomers, AceShowbiz reports.

Finalizing the adventure of Katniss Everdeen, the movie came in nearly $20 million under "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1" and about $50 million below 2012's "The Hunger Games" ($152 million) and "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" ($158 million) in 2013.

"It's a pretty unbelievable achievement any time you have a movie that results in a $100 million-plus opening, which has only happened 34 times in our business," said Lionsgate domestic distribution executive David Spitz, hoping that in the upcoming holidays "we have a tremendous runway ahead of us."

This weekend's two other new films, Seth Rogen's "The Night Before" and Julia Roberts's "Secret in Their Eyes", came far behind expectation. Jonathan Levine's holiday comedy, which stars Rogen along with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Anthony Mackie, is on the fourth place, opening to around $10.1 million from 2,690 theaters.

"We would have like to have seen a little more, but this and the 'A-' CinemaScore give us enough to build on because this really is a funny film and it's something different during the holidays," Rory Bruer, Sony's distribution chief said.

Meanwhile, the drama, which teamed Roberts and Chiwetel Ejiofor as well as Nicole Kidman, opened to approximately $6.6 million from 2,392 locations, marking the worst debut of Roberts' career for a movie opening in 2,000 or more theaters.

Two holdovers the "Peanuts" movie and "Spectre" are on the second and third place respectively. "Spectre" took in around $14.6 million while the "Peanuts" movie added another $12.8 million in its third weekend.