NORTH AMERICA: Weekend Estimates: ‘Mockingjay – Part 1’ Easily Leads Thanksgiving with 5-Day Take of $82.7M; ‘Penguins of Madagascar’ a Distant Second with $36.0M 5-Day Start; ‘Horrible Bosses 2’ Struggles with $23.0M in 5 Days

Please note that most grosses for Thursday, November 27 and Friday, November 28 are studio estimates and that not all studios are currently reporting due to the holiday weekend. Complete actuals will be reported on Monday, December 1.

Lionsgate reports The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 added $24.1 million on Black Friday, bringing its 8-day domestic haul to $192.7 million. Although pacing 24 percent behind its predecessor, the penultimate franchise chapter is on pace to easily win its second consecutive weekend. BoxOffice projects $56.6 million 3-day and $81.9 million 5-day frames.

Fox/DreamWorks’ Penguins of Madagascar pulled another $10.5 million in second place yesterday, giving the animated spin-off $20.7 million in the bank through three days of release. Early word of mouth is decent for the target audience, generating a 74 percent Flixster user score so far. The flick is trending 16 percent ahead of the most recent Thanksgiving release from DreamWorks, Rise of the Guardians. BoxOffice projects 3-day and 5-day openings of $26.9 million and $37.1 million, respectively.

Disney’s Big Hero 6 moved back into the top three on Friday with $7.74 million. The toon has amassed $156.2 million to-date, 12 percent more than Wreck-It Ralph through the same point. Look for respective 3-day / 5-day numbers around $19.4 million / $26.6 million.

Moving up one spot to fourth place yesterday was Interstellar. Paramount reports the Christopher Nolan epic added $6.6 million to its domestic haul, giving it $137.9 million to-date. BoxOffice projects $15.9 million for the 3-day weekend and $22.1 million for the 5-day.

Rounding out the top five on Black Friday, Horrible Bosses 2 continued to under-perform as it fell two spots and earned $6.2 million. The comedy sequel has earned $13.5 million since opening Wednesday and is off the pace of its predecessor by 52 percent. Unfortunately, with a 36 percent Rotten Tomatoes score and 64 percent Flixster score, the pic’s long-term prospects aren’t encouraging. BoxOffice is projecting $15.5 million for the 3-day weekend and $22.8 million for the overall 5-day opening.

In limited release, Focus FeaturesThe Theory of Everything took in a solid $1.93 million yesterday. That brings the Stephen Hawking biopic up to $6.4 million domestically as it prepares to ride a wave of great buzz through the holiday and awards season. BoxOffice projects $5.1 million and $6.55 million for the 3-day and 5-day frames, respectively.

Last, but not least, TWC’s The Imitation Game got off to an excellent start in its 4-theater debut yesterday. The Alan Turing biopic starring Benedict Cumberbatch bagged $181,130 to begin its platform release–netting a stellar per-theater average of $45,283 in just one day. That bests the 4-location Black Friday opening of 2011’s The Artist by a whopping 140 percent, while also eclipsing Birdman‘s $135,602 4-location opening day in October. Genre-wise, a noteworthy comparison is 2001’s A Beautiful Mind–it earned $108,163 from 11 theaters ($9,833 per location) on opening day (however, the eventual 2001 Best Picture Oscar-winner opened four days before Christmas that year). Regardless, The Imitation Game is well-poised to enjoy a long holiday run thanks to fantastic awards buzz and early word of mouth. BoxOffice projects the film will net around $480,000 this weekend.

The projected weekend top 10 is:

1. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 ($56.3 million 3-day / $81.9 million 5-day)
2. Penguins of Madagascar ($26.9 million 3-day / $37.1 million 5-day)
3. Big Hero 6 ($19.4 million / $26.6 million)
4. Interstellar ($15.9 million / $22.1 million)
5. Horrible Bosses 2 ($15.5 million / $22.8 million)
6. Dumb and Dumber To ($8.4 million / $11.7 million)
7. The Theory of Everything ($5.1 million / $6.45 million)
8. Gone Girl ($2.3 million / $3.1 million)
9. Birdman ($1.86 million / $2.4 million)
10. St. Vincent ($1.85 million / $2.4 million)

News Stories