Though the odds might be in Katniss Everdeen’s favor, the box office was not. During its opening weekend, Mockingjay—Part 2, the final chapter of the beloved Hunger Games series, earned $101 million at domestic box offices and $247 million from international sales. Those numbers are by no means small—if it were any other film they would be considered an immense success— but The Hollywood Reporternotes that Mockingjay—Part 2, “came in behind expectations even on a global basis.”
Mockingjay 2’s debut was down 17 percent from the $121.9 million opening of Mockingjay — Part 1, and 36 percent from the massive $158 million launch of sequel The Hunger Games: Catching Fire two years ago.
That said, Mockingjay—Part 2 has pretty stiff competition from the earlier films in the franchise. Part 1 was the highest-grossing film of 2014 and the first film, 2012’s The Hunger Games, had one of the most lucrative openings in film history. THR also notes that The Hunger Games is still the most profitable film featuring a female lead.
Some are questioning the studio’s decision to break up Suzanne Collins’ last book into two separate films. It was, without a doubt, the bleakest book of the series, and a Katniss Everdeen broken by the toils of war and death isn’t exactly the stuff of major blockbusters. But alas, I’m still going to see it tonight.
