Mockingjay Part 2, the final entry in the Hunger Games series, dominated the box office its opening weekend with an expected $101 million take. Unfortunately this was the lowest first weekend ever for the series, which had $150 million openings for the first two movies and $122 million for Mockingjay Part 1. Some are calling this “disappointing,” but it’s hard to see how $101 million can be considered anything but a success. In contrast, the second and third ranked movies this weekend, Spectre and Peanuts, earned just $14.6 and $12.8 million each.
We saw the film on Sunday and it was impressively close to the book, something author Suzanne Collins has praised the filmmakers and cast for. Collins gushed on Facebook about Jennifer Lawrence and the supporting cast. Here’s some of what she wrote:
I’ve just had the opportunity to see the finished film of The Hunger Games. I’m really happy with how it turned out. I feel like the book and the film are individual yet complementary pieces that enhance one another. The film opens up the world beyond Katniss’ point of view, allowing the audience access to the happenings of places like the Hunger Games control room and President Snow’s rose garden, thereby adding a new dimension to the story.
Director Gary Ross has created an adaptation that is faithful in both narrative and theme, but he’s also brought a rich and powerful vision of Panem, its brutality and excesses, to the film as well. His world building’s fantastic, whether it be the Seam or the Capitol. It’s amazing to see things that are suggested in the book fully developed and so brilliantly realized through the artistry of the designers.
And, my God, the actors. The cast, led by the extraordinary Jennifer Lawrence, is absolutely wonderful across the board. It’s such a pleasure to see how they’ve embodied the characters and brought them to life.
Collins really nailed the strong points of the film. The visuals and setting were so faithful to the book, especially the costuming, architecture and interior design. There was one scene that took place in an abandoned luxe apartment in the Capital which served as a perfect contrast to the gritty, brutal war which was being fought outside. The settings were so perfectly rendered that you felt transported. There were also pure action-movie moments and scenes which brought scifi and horror movie elements together into creepy jump scares and grotesque hand to hand combat.
Spoilers for The Hunger Games, Mockingjay Part 2 follow
The acting was superb, particularly from Lawrence, who put in the kind of Oscar-worthy performance that we’ve come to take for granted from her. Some of the standout supporting characters included Jena Malone (Johanna Mason), Sam Claftin (Finnick Odair), Mahershala Ali (Bogs) and Eldon Henson (Pollux), who played a mute or “Avox” character who said so much with his emotions and eyes.
Of course I was paying the most attention to Phillip Seymour Hoffman (Plutarch), as this was the final film he made before he died early last year. The only time I cried during the film was after Plutarch’s final scene, which was well rendered CGI that was convincing enough but obviously added in after Hoffman passed. When Pulatrch looked at Katniss to give his unspoken approval it felt like a final farewell from Hoffman, which was surely intentional. A flimsy excuse was made for Haymitch (Woody Harrelson, who was also excellent) to later read a letter to Katniss from Plutarch, summing up what he could have told her in person if Hoffman had been able to film his last scheduled week on set.
The weaknesses were the emotional, romantic moments. I never bought Peeta and Katniss as a couple in the books and their romance seemed even more contrived in the film. Many of you may disagree and that’s understandable, they did go through a war together and that surely bonded them, but I still couldn’t get on board with them as a couple. There were some scenes that felt cheesy and unnecessary, particularly when Peeta and Gale had a heart to heart about which of them Katniss might choose if they all made it out alive. To be fair, this conversation did take place in the book. The ending was true to the book with a slight narrative twist but somehow made it seem schmaltzy and less introspective. Overall though this was a fitting ending to an incredible series, and one that remained true to the source material. I’ll watch it again.
Photos credit: Lionsgate via PopSugar
I enjoyed the movie but I wasn’t overwhelmed by it…It was slightly disappointing for me.
I sincerely liked the series as a whole but I would have edited out a few bits in the this movie. I agree about the moments between Katniss and Peeta were a bit contrived and I hated the final scene, it should have ended when they were lying in the bed.
I did see it, though I am not really the demographic. Very good CB review, I agree with most of it, though I always felt Katniss and Peeta were the more plausible couple. I also thought Jennifer was terrific, and found it sad that the great PSH was not going to wow me in any more films.
I said the exact same thing, it should’ve ended with her crawling into his bed, it was perfect. The scene with the kids was way too much and I think the audience needed more than 2 minutes to jump from badass killer Katniss to loving wife and mother Katniss.
Also, the scene with her yelling at the cat and his reaction was the worst!! The entire theater said “awe”, lol.
YES! The bed scene should have been the last one.
Re: the cat. My mom said that Katniss has awesome aim so it wasn’t believable that she couldn’t hit that cat from up close.
Also, not to stir up controversy, but why was the infant Asian? It was hugely distracting and I laughed hysterically for the rest of the movie.
Yes, I saw it and not by choice. But I was never into The Hunger Games movies or book. After the first one it lost it’s magic for me. I know I’m not the demographic they were aiming at but you can enjoy a good movie at any age. And I think the reason why a lot of people don’t buy the romance of Katniss and Peeta is because of Josh. IMO he didn’t make a good Peeta and there wasn’t any chemistry between them. They should have found a more believable actor for that role.
When the scene of Katniss climbing into the bed with him showed on the screen, a lot of the teens in the theater started laughing.
I didn’t watch the movie but imho if the romance of Katniss and Peeta wasn’t believable they got it right. I never thought it was very believable in the books and they certainly didn’t end up very happy in the book despite the children.
After all they went through they were just way too broken for happily ever after.
Agree on the casting call V4real. I cringe at all of their scenes together. Zero chemistry.
I actually thought Peeta was perfect, but JLaw as Katniss got some getting used to, and she is too tall for him.
As for lack of chemistry, in the books Peeta is much more into Katniss than she is into him, I think that is accurate.
I think if there is a fault it is withnJLaw , she has no chemistry with her male costars. People are going to notice it sooner or later regardless of how fabulous she is so otherwise.
“Unfortunately this was the lowest first weekend ever”
must be Adele’s fault this one.
the people who are supposed to watch Mockingjay 2 were either still stuck in a queue inside a music store (who goes there anymore?), or halfway through their second bottle of wine sobbing in a basement corner clutching a photo of an ex. thus missing/forgetting the time they should already be in the cinema
Yeah that sounds about right
Jennifer Lawrence’s box office power is vastly overestimated. none of hunger games movies made a billion dollars.
If you measured every individual’s box office power based off of whether their film made a billion dollars or not, very few would pass that test. A $101 million domestic opening is a big sign of box office power.
I grew up with watching strong female leads such as Buffy, Xena, tomb raider etc and yet Hunger Games never got me interested enough to go and watch it in the cinema.
Don’t know why but Katniss just doesn’t scream strong and independent to me. Maybe it’s not the character but the actress who is putting me off.
I’m not the intended demographic, and I couldn’t believe I was reading YA, but I think Katniss is the epitome of strong and independent. She not only kept her family alive by illegally hunting (after her father died and her mother was in a profound depression), she actually saves Peeta in the first games. The character is much more petite than JL, and Peeta was written as very strong. Yet she was better at hunting, foraging, and strategizing. She’s unlike any other heroine I’ve ever read. She wasn’t popular, and could care less. She was gruff and lacked charm which Peeta had in spades. And she was a very reluctant figure head of the revolution.
The books really make me cry, but the films don’t affect me on that level. For all the brutality, the books managed to convey it without going torture porn. The movies were just so sanitized, and when the horrible moments are blunted, the moving moments aren’t as powerful.
I sound like such a fan girl, but I haven’t even seen part one yet.
outside America both hunger games and twilight made similar money.Lawrence is not as popular worldwide especially Asia.
I’ve already seen the movie twice and I loved it, especially for being so true to the book. I’m a huge Katniss and Peeta shipper but I agree that the romance was badly done at times, but mainly because I wanted MORE of it! More kisses and a wedding especially. Oh well, at least she didn’t end up with Gale 😀
Agreed. I love the film, but I hate the fact that they didn’t make her suffer that much. She’s absolutely destroyed in the books, mentally and physically, but the film makes it look like a walk in the park and hey, she’s hunting again immediately. Disappointing. The point is that nobdy wins and that she needs very much time to get herself together.
The scene at the end was super cheesy and the flower dress over the top. I want to have the scene in the film since it’s in the books too, but they ruined it.
Team Peeta by the way, Josh Hutcherson was perfect!
Yeah that’s true, she was so destroyed in the book I was surprised she had kids.
Josh was one of the worst parts about this franchise. No onscreen chemistry with JLaw and just not believable in his role.
He’s the Hunger Games Frodo. (Meaning he’s a very vital part of the franchise but no one wants to be him).
I strongly disagree! 😉 I thought he was perfect as Peeta. Susanne Collins said that too by the way.
Yes, they were so damaged in the book at the end. I’m really sad to hear it’s sanitized. I really love how the book ends with Katniss talking about how she and Peeta told their children about the games and the difficult parts they played. And then she talks about the word games that she and Peeta still play when they are having a hard time. And the last line which just gutted me, “but there are much worse games to play.” I was hoping the movie would end in a voice over of Katniss saying that, but sounds like it didn’t happen.
No, she actually said that to her child. I thought as well that a voice over would have been the better choice.
More Sam Claftin please?
AGREED!
Yes, he is a darling. More British men in general, please, they are so charming.
I enjoyed the first two movies but never planned on watching Mockingjay in the theatres It was always the weakest book of the series and I’d rather not spend 4 hours watching katniss scream and pass out.
I watched the mockingjay part 1 film, it was sooo boring. I loved the books but the film was all special effects and dramatic music and zooms to wide-eyed Katniss and no substance. Wouldve walked out but my friend loved it, god knows why.
They really should have condensed 1 and 2, but no, they wanted to squeeze as much money out of the franchise as possible. With the result that 1 was empty and boring,
While it’s a killer domestic opening, they also had a $215 mil budget and at one point Deadline wrote that they’ll only make a profit because of the side deals like rentals, etc. There is absolutely no reason the budget should have been that big…if something like Guardians of the Galaxy can be made on $170 mil, with all the special effects, so can other films with less special effects. The last Bond film made $70 mil on a $245 mil budget but has also managed to do crazy well overseas…it’s grossed nearly $700 mil WW in just three weeks. The difference is the THG films do well overseas but they don’t make 2 to 3x the domestic like Bond and the HP franchise do.
Anyway, it’s kind of a shame because the problem is more on the fact that the budget was inflated than it not grossing a ton of a money. Plus, the last book was the least popular and a lot of people side-eyed them for splitting it up. I hope the idiot male studio heads don’t let this discourage them from championing more female lead action films. Personally, I enjoyed it a lot and I thought Jennifer did a killer job but they should have never have split it into two films because you could tell they were stretching the plot at points.
That 200+ mil budget is for both Mockingjay movies. Thay already made their budget back with Part 1, anything Part 2 makes is pure profit.
Not according to Deadline if I read it correctly…I’ve also seen some tweets by film twitter
If we read the same article on Deadline then I’d say you got it wrong. But might of course be another article too. I’ve only ever read the plus 200 mil budget for both movies combined.
I see either $125 or $160 million budget for Part 2. It’s already made almost $250 million worldwide in the first weekend, so I think it should end up turning quite a good profit. All of the other HG films made well over $700 million each.
That budget is for both films. They filmed both movies simultaneously. So the budget is a non issue
I was looking forward to katniss and johanna training to go to war and was so disappointed they edited that to her sneaking onto that plane instead. Also I found the ending to drag on, but otherwise enjoyed it. Nowhere near as much as 1 & 2 though.
Finnick fighting the mutts in the sewer…..screaming for katniss…..
My teen daughter was balled up in her theater seat and cringing when they said they were going underground. She’d read all the books and knew what was coming. Finnick! And I was Team Gale. There was much more chemistry there, but I was warned I’d be disappointed. Still a good wrap-up to the series.
Someone said Gale and Katniss look like a couple of hot 22 year olds forced to drag around the dorky high school senior neighborhood kid (Peeta) on a college tour and I’ve always seen them that way since lol
The reason that Mockingjays pts 1-2 did so poorly was because they should have been one movie. Greedy producers wanted two weak movies, instead of one great one, and people don’t scramble to see watered-down crap in the same way that they do to see quality.
So true.
I’m not a fan of splitting a book into 2 movies, it does strike me as greedy, but there’s no way these did “poorly”. MJ1 made $755 million. Part 2 is already almost $250 million after 1 weekend. Maybe not artistically, but it was a smart business decision.
I guess they were looking for that Twilight effect with Breaking Dawn 1 and 2.
@V4Real Everyone forgets that Harry Potter was the one to start the trend.
It hasn’t done poorly though. Where are you getting these numbers? As @lucy2 point out, MJ1 pulled 755 mil and 2 has already pulled 247 mil. Splitting the films is going to be a very profitable decision.
If the film is “impressively close to the book” then I really don’t want to see it. The Mockingjay book was terrible, especially the ending – she sits in a room and tells us what’s happened since they blew up Snow’s residence or whatever. I thought Mockingjay was by far the worst book of the series. In no way did it need to be split into two movies.
I’m confused.
In her post about Mockingjay Part 2, Suzanne Collins writes “Director Gary Ross has created an adaptation…”
I thought Gary Ross only directed the first film. Francis Lawrence directed all of the rest.
Is she referring to Ross originally creating the visual world of Panem? Or did she make an embarrassing mistake of naming the wrong director?
Maybe I should have some coffee.
That sounded like it was from after she saw the first HG movie.
Thanks Migdalia. I checked the Facebook post and you are right. Collins posted that in 2012. I assumed because the story was about MJ2 that the post was as well.
Isn’t it crazy that no one really knows who Suzanne Collins is?!! Compared with all the other authors who have bestselling books like this — she’s so mysterious.
Yeah, I kind of love it that I couldn’t pick her out of a lineup even now. It’s a nice contrast to E. L. James.
Some authors are okay with sitting back and letting the checks clear. Keep your privacy….in your huge ass mansion.
The film will serve as a case study as to why dividing one same book into two is a bad idea.
(right next to The Hobbit)
The movie dragged on and on and lacked emotional depth.
Jennifer Lawerence was sleep walking throughout the movie but Liam Hemsworth was had better presence.
As for the story? Pretty boring. The must important parts are not shown and the fights were unimpressive.
Compared to the ending of the Twilight or The Harry Potter series this is a big let down. There isn’t a sense that you been on a journey and you have reached an end. You are just done.
I watched it on Friday and I thought it was good. I agree with Collins. I love how they brought the Capitol and District 2 (The Nut) to life. I was Team Peeta in the books. I was Team Nobody in the movie adaptation.
Loved it…I thought it was great. I’m glad it’s all over though, I hate how these series drag on for years. I swear my middle daughter was a sophomore in HS when the first one came out and is now a sophomore in college!
The only series that I can think of that dragged on for a few short years but got it right was The Lord of The Rings trilogy. Even The Matrix which I loved had its flaws.
That’s probably because they didn’t decide to make Return of the King two movies and actually cut out some of the additional endings instead of adding to it.
And many people still complained about it being too long after Sauron got distroyed.
The splitting the (last) book into more than one piece usually doesn’t work and is absolutely not necessary from a story telling point. But as long as people go see it and it makes more money that is the way we are headed.
I read the books, and the last one was just not good. Splitting it into two movies was just a big $$$ grab. The tepid response to this one ( tepid as regards the other movies on the series) should hopefully encourage studio heads not to needlessly stretch out a series.
But they still left out so much!
I won’t go see it. Part 1 was dreadfully boring. Jen’s acting was .. over acting. She is a horrible actress!! Horrid.
I did not see it as I read the books and didn’t want to publicly cry from beginning to end (same with MJP1)
Will buy it and watch it properly with a box of tissues on my couch. If they kept the Buttercup cat scene I may not have the strength to make it to the end. I had to close the book and put it in the freezer at that point.
I was sort of disappointed by the handle of the last book. *SPOILERS AHEAD***********
They took too many literary liberties, now that being said it is Hollywood.
If my memory doesn’t fail me in the end Peta and Katniss were more or less disfigured by burnt in the final blast were her sister dies. She barely had a scratch…
Prim’s dead came out flat because she didn’t have enough screen time and by the time it happened, I felt nothing. The other thing was Hemsworth’s acting was flat in the last scene, not emotive at all.
The war bit touched me more, but I think that’s because of the situation we are living.
OVerall B-
This! I’m disappointed that they didn’t even suggested that she was burnt and heartbroken. It didn’t come across that the death of her sister and her own mental and physical wounds left her destroyed. Thank god Jennifer Lawrence is a great actress because otherwise I would have felt nothing.
Yeah, they really didn’t give Prim any screen time so it was hard to be super devastated.
I loved the film and started trying just before Katniss did and I never cry at movies. I am a fan however and the general audience would have propbably enjoyed more moments that were not from her perspective (there was more in the previous films I feel) such as some discussions and war scenes. I would have liked if some moments were shot and edited to be slightly more epic and some relationships more emphasised (expecially one particilar and that should have been worked on in previous films as well even if that would have meant inventing scenes not in the book, this was probbaly most faitfull of the films regarding the book and it was a big unnesecary).
But for me it was still such a great experience even with minor flaws. I think partially the film did worse was because of some really hate the Mockingjay films being split in two parts (in one review the writer mentioned that like 7 times even if she has bacially nothing else to complain about the film, some really just hate this).
And the general audiences probably wanted more battles in the previous film and are waiting Star Wars so much that they are not interested in other films
Overrated in every sense of the word.
We saw it THURSDAY night and I thought it was avert strong ending to the series. I wanted more Johanna but I understood why it was time to change the “Katniss trains, then goes to fight” storyline, and also, I always thought it was a little stupid for the leadership to keep using Katniss for propos when she kept going off their leash. The new storyline (she sneaks away) makes more sense.
I don’t know if I will ever be completely convinced that Peeta is right for Katniss (seriously, they are teens when they meet) but the movie sold it better than the book.
The last book in the series was awful. A lot of people hated it (including myself) so I’m not surprised the last movie didn’t draw as many fans. I loved the first two books. I’ll still watch it when it comes on cable.
I saw this with my 13 year old daughter and absolutely loved it. The scene with Gail and peta talking while katniss was sleeping was the only misstep, I thought it was a bit twilighty, other than that, perfect. Yes, the last scene was hokey, but than I remembered this film is young adult
and my daughter loved it.
I haven’t seen any of the films, I will watch them all at some point (I was the sane with Harry Potter, I’m terrible at actually getting round to stuff)
I don’t mind spoilers at all, I’ve been known to google films half way through….I just want to know does Katniss not end up with Gale? Such a shame as I consider the younger Hemsworth to be hot like fire! Lol
I went as a favor for a friend and i could barely stay awake. Heard a few comments from people who didn’t really like it even as fans of the series.
Out of all 4 films, I rank it as 3.
2 is my favorite.
I’ve only watched the first film. Primarily out of curiosity after reading the books.
I don’t know whether it was the rush job on the first film – very short time between green light and release date – or the non action director – Gary Ross, but it was a mess.
The story was weak, the technical mistakes in the production, the bad acting……
Just about the only thing they got right was the casting.
I took several teen cousins with me, and as far as we could tell, cinema was filled with young people, and most had bad things to say afterwards. Overhearing post-screening conversations was interesting. Most gave it thumbs down.
And the glaring technical mistakes came in for a lot of ribbing.
Have no intention of watching the other 2 films. Not even when they show up on TV.
To me Personally (although I will go watch with my Bff cause we just have to see this through- Book Lovers) THIS particular book didnt need a 2nd part this coulda been done a movie ago, The FIRST or even second could have been 2 parters to allow for more capitol shennanigans and character development with the other Victors, the Behind Hunger Games prep and sponsorship stuff their first impressions of the Capitol etc etc
The second book should have been split, because they left out a ton of the political stuff which was a) so interesting and compelling and b) wasn’t just senseless violence.
I didn’t like this book, so I knew I wasn’t going to really enjoy the movies. I think the romantic elements were badly done. Katniss didn’t look enthused to be kissing anyone. I on one hand think she should have been more upset by Prim’s death, but I’m also glad they didn’t make her any more destroyed, because she’s been through so much already. The movie just dragged in the middle where all the death were happening.
I’ve got two free tickets for next Saturday so I’ll probably watch it. If I didn’t have them, I would probably pass. Natalie Dormer’s why I will watch it.
No I’ve been too saturated with jen and her grossness and push for the public to see her as a sophisticated lady. She’s not a lady and it’s ok. Btw read the book & know who dies at the end already.
Slow, predictable, and boring.
Splitting book 3 into 2 films is fine with me because it seems like there are relatively few movies with a non sexed-up female lead that are targeted to under 18 females.
I haven’t seen this one yet but I will see it with one of my nieces (a target demographic) when she attends for the 2nd or 3rd time in the theater.
I haven’t seen any of the film because they appear to be rip-offs of Battle Royale.
I’m glad they stayed true to the book with this film. I enjoyed this series and the movies. That said, I desperately hope they change the ending to the Divergent series in the last film (Allegiant). *Terrible* ending to a series….
I enjoyed it but, like many, it didn’t wow me or grab me.
The ending was cheesy. I enjoyed the book ending, as I think the way it is written still gives the happily ever after ending a more darker, graver appearance which fitted the series’ theme. The films ending, whilst true-ish to the book lacked a decent execution of the source material. Turned it into a cheesy ending which caused people to laugh when j saw it at the cinema on Friday. Even I rolled my eyes at how Disney that end scene was.
Felt at odds to the rest of the series. They could have done a lot more with it.
I, like many others, hated that last book and forced myself to finish it after it sat on my coffee table for months, so I didn’t expect to like this movie. I only just saw Part 1 on cable the other day and got to see Part 2 on Thursday night for work. The action sequences were good, the sets were cool, but I HATED the ending of the book and still hated it in the movie- if not more.
Also, I always thought the movies underplayed her relationship with Gale and favored Peeta, so I thought we would get some extra romantic scene that we didn’t get in the book where Katniss actual says WHY she loves and chooses Peeta and, oh I don’t know, kisses him so the teenage fanbase can have a swoon worthy moment. But nope, no chemistry, no romance, boring, dull, boring.
I tried to binge-watch the movies, and discovered I have an intense dislike for Elizabeth Banks. Will I make it through this one in the theatre?
Am I the only one who is slightly infuriated at the hand wringing over this opening? It just seems like people are going out of their way to paint a $247 ($101 domestic) million opening weekend as a terrible thing and then using that as some method of gauging Jennifer Lawrence’s star power. Hell, going by the tone of every other article, you’d think it was a box office disaster that just fizzled, not the #1 movie in the country. I didn’t see any of the same negative nonsense when Spectre opened at $73m and the Peanuts movie opened at $45M.
Production sites state specifically that NONE of the PSH scenes are CGI – they reused some footage that had been taken earlier (or rather, used footage that had been shot but not used). That’s why they changed it to a letter from Plutarch at the end – they refused to use CGI for him.