Latest ‘Hunger Games’ Film Opens to $123 Million

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The latest installment of “The Hunger Games” film series was a hit by nearly any measure—except its own. “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1” opened to $123 million in the U.S. and Canada, according to an estimate from studio Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Although that is easily the biggest opening of 2014, it is 22% lower than the prior “Hunger Games” movie, “Catching Fire,” which opened to $158.1 million on the same weekend last year. The first “Hunger Games” opened to $152.5 million in March 2012.

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Investors dinged Lions Gate’s stock after it became apparent from screenings late Thursday that “Mockingjay” likely wouldn’t perform as well as its predecessors. Shares in the studio dropped 5% on Friday, settling at $33.25 in 4 p.m. trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

The blockbuster performances of “The Hunger Games,” starring Jennifer Lawrence and based on a best-selling young-adult trilogy, have been a key driver of a roughly threefold increase in Lions Gate’s stock price since early 2012.

Though the company also has a growing television unit that makes “Mad Men” and “Orange is the New Black,” motion pictures are its biggest business and “The Hunger Games” its most valuable asset. The last two movies grossed a total of $1.56 billion world-wide.

As Hollywood studios have become more reliant on mega-franchises, they also are more sensitive to any signs of diminishing interest. This past summer, for instance, the latest “Transformers” and “Amazing Spider-Man” both performed worse than preceding films domestically, despite collecting an impressive $1.1 billion and $709 million world-wide, respectively. As a result, the studios behind them are carefully pondering their next steps rather than rushing ahead with another sequel. (By BEN FRITZ-WSJ)


 

‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1’ took in $123 million domestically this weekend, easily making it the biggest opening in 2014. LIONS GATE/EVERETT COLLECTION