NEWS: 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1' Debuts As Highest Opening Film of 2014, Earns $55 Million By Friday

Good news: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 has earned its first goal and has obtained the title of being the largest opening gross at the domestic box-office for 2014, earning an estimated $55 million on Friday. This intake includes the $17 million that the third installment in The Hunger Games franchise earned during Thursday night premiere screenings.

Bad news: the estimates are still lower than what box-office analysts initially predicted for Mockingjay Part 1. Analysts are now certain the film will not hit the $150 million opening weekend mark that the two previous films achieved. The film is now expected to finish the weekend around $125 million, also below Lionsgate's prediction of $130 million. Nonetheless, with this opening weekend prediction, the third entry in The Hunger Games franchise will easily gain the title of largest opening weekend of 2014, beating Transformers: Age of Extinction's $100 million opening day record. Here's a report from Variety:

The U.S. opening day grosses for “Mockingjay,” according to early estimates, will likely reach $55 million, including $17 million from Thursday night showings, followed by about $43 million on Saturday and another $29 million on Sunday. 

Should those numbers hold, the U.S. opening weekend for “Mockingjay” would finish far below 2012′s “The Hunger Games” with $152 million and last year’s “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” with $158 million. Box office trackers had expected “Mockingjay” to finish between $130 million and $150 million in the U.S. 

…Thursday night’s business for “Mockingjay” was 33% behind last year’s massive $25.3 million Thursday night launch for “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” and 14% below the $19.7 million earned by the first “Hunger Games” on its first night of release in March, 2012.

These lower gross totals for Mockingjay Part 1 are assumed to be due to the bad weather conditions up north and on the east coast, the lack of IMAX showings, and to the overall weak box-office earnings of most movies this year. 
With Thanksgiving weekend just around the corner, we here at TheHungerGamers.net are hoping that it would boost Mockingjay Part 1's earnings, as it was an evident contributing factor to Catching Fire's success last year. Repeat viewings will also help the film's performance at the box-office. So make sure to bring your family and friends to see Mockingjay Part 1 this weekend or over Thanksgiving break!
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