This performance is somewhat shocking, since reviews are an improvement over its predecessor (70% on Rotten Tomatoes compared to 'Part 1''s 65% score), word-of-mouth is on par ('A-' CinemaScore), Jennifer Lawrence's star power doesn't seem to be fading yet, and YA finales usually tend to experience increased grosses from the previous installments ('Twilight' ($141.1m) and 'Harry Potter' ($169.2m) both set (or almost set) franchise highs). Unfortunately, after the breakout performance of the first two installments ($152.5m and $158.1m weekends), franchise fatigue began to set in. 'Mockingjay - Part 2' didn't do a good-enough job to differentiate itself from its predecessor, and the Flixter score eroded rather quickly going through the weekend (81% to 77%). The marketing wasn't really pushing audiences to go out and see this, which would have also caused problems. Plus, the hype for 'Star Wars' has been going on ever since it was announced, so more casual audiences probably decided to save their money for that. The trailers and social media activity as well as last night's tribute at the American Music Awards definitely sealed the deal for fans and presented itself to the ones that don't really know what it is. Therefore, 'Hunger Games' doesn't have nearly as much potential as 'Star Wars', and the interest in that movie definitely muted grosses a bit.However, with one of the most back-loaded weekends in the franchise and its smaller-scale opening, 'Mockingjay - Part 2' could be able to hold up much better than its predecessors and could be the first one to get a 3x multiplier, but just to be safe I'm going with a $260-$285 million finish, but anything above that is more than welcome.
In second place, 'Spectre' kept running behind expectations with $15 million, down a sizable 55.3% from last weekend. That is worse than all the other Craig-as-Bond films, being a bit off from the 50.9% decline of 'Quantum of Solace' and not even close to the 13.6% and 29.5% drops of 'Skyfall' and 'Casino Royale'. The $245-million spy film from Sony has earned $154.1 million, and if it keeps holding up the way it is now it will have trouble getting past $185 million. But don't feel bad for 'Spectre', as it has already made $677.4 million worldwide and will take a shot at $1 billion.'The Peanuts Movie' took another rather steep drop this weekend, falling 45% and making $13.2 million for a new $99.3 million cume. For a strongly-reviewed animated film, 'Peanuts' has been front-loaded for the most part, but nevertheless is still performing solidly. $150 million should still be possible.
'The Night Before', a $25-million comedy starring Seth Rogen, Anthony Mackie, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, performed modestly in fourth, raking in $9.9 million from 2,960 theaters for a $3,338 average. Compared to Rogen's latest works, this is more of a disappointing start. Instead of matching the likes of 'This is the End' ($20.7m) and 'Neighbors' ($49m), it performed more in line with 2011's '50/50', another low-budget R-rated comedy starring Rogen and Gordon-Levitt, which opened to $8.6 million. Marketing was modest at the very most, marking it as a low-profile release this weekend. Plus, Gordon-Levitt and Mackie, albeit recognizable, aren't guaranteed box office draws. Gordon-Levitt stumbled with his latest film 'The Walk' ($3.7m opening), and Mackie hasn't found much success outside the Marvel canon ('Our Brand is Crisis' flopped with just $3.2m).
With $4.1 million this weekend, 'Love the Coopers' dropped 50.3% from its opening. That is a worse hold than one would predict, but its pretty clear now that reviews and word-of-mouth are making at least a small impact on its performance. Still, 'Coopers' has collected a solid $15.1 million in two weeks, and although it might suffer weaker drops in the future, it should get past $22 million.
'The Martian' experienced its worse hold yet, but that one wasn't even past 45%. Dropping 43.4%, the $108-million Matt Damon led sci-fi made $3.8 million over the weekend. It has so far made a strong $213.1 million, and $220 million isn't out of the question.
Jumping up four spots from last weekend, 'Spotlight' increased another whopping 160.7% and made $3.5 million. The critically-acclaimed drama continues performing very strongly as it expanded into 598 locations this weekend, and has so far brought in a solid $5.8 million.'The 33' plummeted 59.5% to gross $2.3 million. Solid word-of-mouth apparently couldn't save it from bad reviews and general disinterest in the film. The disaster drama has made a terrible $10 million, and $15 million is going to be hard to get to at this point.
'Bridge of Spies' finally dropped more than 50%, with $2 million due to it losing 1,156 theaters this weekend. Still, with $65.2 million in the bank so far, being called a disappointment is far from the actual truth. $70 million might be able to be reached, but $67 million is more likely.
'Goosebumps' also dropped more than 50% for the first time, and in fact almost hit 60% after losing 1,018 locations. The $58-million horror comedy dropped 59.8% and grossed $1.9 million. With $76.1 million, $80 million is still a likely total.
'Spotlight' wasn't the only limited release to receive a huge bump this weekend. The period drama 'Brooklyn' rocketed up nine spots and 141.8% and grossed $1.2 million. It has made $2.2 million as of now, and will look to expand into more locations.Overall, the weekend's Top 12 grossed $166.3 million, which is up an outstanding 72.6% from last weekend but down a disappointing 10.9% when 'Mockingjay - Part 1' (at the time) set a new series low with $121.9 million.
Next weekend, or should I say, this Wednesday, three new wide releases open over the 5-day Thanksgiving weekend. They include the likes 'Creed', the new spin-off of the beloved 'Rocky franchise, 'The Good Dinosaur', Pixar's latest animated treat, and 'Victor Frankenstein', a sci-fi horror based on the popular legend starring two of the most famous English actors there are.
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