Katniss off target as Mockingjay – Part 2 trails Part 1 at UK box officeHunger Games finale’s £11.3m opening fails to match its predecessor’s, as Spectre rockets to third place in all-time UK chart.
Numbers soften for Hunger Games finale
When the makers of the Harry Potter and Twilight films split the last book of each series into two movies, both saw a box office uptick for the finale. It was reasonable to assume that Hunger Games would follow the same pattern, with Mockingjay – Part 2 delivering a bigger opening than its predecessor. It didn’t happen.
The final Hunger Games film opened with £9.26m plus just under £2m in previews, for an £11.26m total. That compares with Mockingjay – Part 1’s £10.32m plus £2.33m in previews for a four-day total of £12.65m. In other words, the second instalment is 11% down on its predecessor.
Mockingjay - Part 2 might have dipped because Part 1 was arguably a water-treading exercise that eroded the fanbase. But the same could be said about Twilight: Breaking Dawn, the first part of which was rather uneventful. That didn’t stop fans turning up in droves for the finale.
Another theory is that, with the addition of the Divergent and Maze Runner franchises – both delivered sequels in 2015 – the dystopian-future YA space has become too cluttered. It may also be that occasional cinemagoers have seenSpectre, booked for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and decided that’s enough for now.
Viewed in a broader context, £11.24m in four days is still a tidy sum for Mockingjay – Part 2. While it was beaten this year by the debuts of Fifty Shades of Grey, Fast & Furious 7, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Jurassic World, Minions and Spectre, it’s worth remembering that 2015 has been an exceptionally strong year for blockbusters. Last year, ignoring previews, only one film opened bigger than Mockingjay – Part 2 and that was Mockingjay – Part 1.
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