US Box Office Report

No new big releases means Mockingjay Part 1 is still top dog

By Rich Matthews

The weekend after the Thanksgiving marathon is traditionally barren of major studio releases, following the logic that nothing can open well in the post-Turkey slot except more turkeys. While we'll have to continue wondering what would have happened if Warner Bros had been ballsy and opened December 17's The Hobbit: Battle Of The Five Armies this weekend, the year's bums-on-seats decline continued, following last weekend's 20 per cent drop from Thanksgiving 2013, with a further loss of 17 per cent for even this perennially quiet period.

So, even though The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 declined a massive 62 percent to bag $21,600,000, taking it's US tally to $257.7m and worldwide gross to $560m, it was still enough to stay in pole position. Plus, Mockingjay is now only a couple of million away from overtaking Marvel's Captain America: The Winter Soldier as the second most successful in the US this year – with only $70m to get to catch Cap's stablemate, Guardians Of The Galaxy, at the top. With Fox only opening The Pyramid on 589 screens at number nine with $1.4m, the rest of the chart is pretty as it has been for a few weeks now.

At two, Dreamworks' Penguins of Madagascar continued to underperform when it grossed $11,100,000 (US $49.6m, $143.4m worldwide), while Warner's R-rated comedy sequel Horrible Bosses 2 also stayed well below the original at three with $8.6m ($36.1m, $59.2m), Disney's latest animated success story Big Hero 6 took fourth with $8.1m ($177.5m, $240m), and Chris Nolan's epic Interstellar rounded out the top five with $8,000,000 ($158.7m, $593m).

At six, Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels still couldn't quite stop Dumb and Dumber To's freefall with $4.2m ($78.1m, $117m), Eddie Redmayne's take on Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything hung in there at seventh with $2,.7m ($13.6m), while David Fincher and Ben Affleck's Gone Girl keeps raking it in at eight with $1.5m ($162.9m, $336.2m). Jumping The Pyramid, the chart was topped off by Michael Keaton's postmodern Birdman taking $1.2m ($19m).

Next week, Sir Ridley Scott thumps bible by making Batman plays Moses in the Christian Bale-starring Exodus: Gods and Kings, then the aforementioned Hobbit bows the Wednesday before the updated Annie and Ben Stiller's Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb make a stab for your festive buck.