The Bottom Line: November, 20 2015: Can Mockingjay – Part 2 Reclaim the Franchise’s Box-Office Dominance?

The Bottom Line: November 20, 2015

This week’s new releases include The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 and The Night Before. Find out how they will all do in this week’s edition of The Bottom Line.

Box Office Top Five

Spectre and The Peanuts Movie (the box office leaders from November 6-8^th) held firm at one and two in weekend gross, but dropped off considerably, bringing in $33,681,104 (down -52.2%) and $24,013,538 (down -45.7%) respectively. Love the Coopers $8,317,545 made its debut at number three, bumping The Martian down to fourth with $6,712,171 (down -26.0%). The 33 $5,787,266 (also in its first week) came in fifth to round out the top five.

A Closer Look at Some of this Week’s Films

This weekend marks the official kick-off of holiday blockbuster season, and earnings are set to surge with a release from the financial juggernaut known as The Hunger Games franchise. The Seth Rogen comedy, The Night Before, should also pull in strong numbers at the gates before Creed and The Good Dinosaur premiere ahead of the holiday weekend this Wednesday. Here is a breakdown of the biggest titles heading for theatres over the next week.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (PG-13) 137 mins. – The title for highest weekend box office tally is The Hunger Games’ to lose. The franchise’s previous three outings have averaged $389,938,208 per picture for a grand total of $1,169,814,624 — that’s enough cash to make Scrooge McDuck blush. Right now, there is no reason to expect anything less than the $300 million mark from the series final installment. The only movie poised to infringe up Mockingjay Part 2’s box office dominance is The Good Dinosaur.

The Night Before (R) 101 mins. – The Night Before centers on a group of bros with an annual tradition of pre-Christmas debauchery. With the responsibilities of adult life finally beginning to creep in, the guys attempt get in one last major holiday bender. Rest assured that hijinks ensue. The Hunger Games’ style of dystopian sci-fi isn’t going to be everyone’s jam, and a major studio, feel good comedy featuring a host of big names (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anthony Mackie) will catch a lot of Katniss, Peeta and The Hunger Games gang’s box-office spillover.

The Good Dinosaur (PG) 100 mins. – Never count Pixar animation Studios out. While Mockingjay Part 2 sports a big name Hollywood star (Jennifer Lawrence) on top of her game, a raibid fan-base, and a history of routinely crushing its ticket sales competition, the people behind The Good Dinosaur also know a thing or two about owning the box office. The film takes place in an alternate timeline where dinosaurs were never wiped out and live alongside early man. If 2015’s box office numbers have taught us anything, it’s that people are willing to pay to watch CGI dinosaurs (Jurassic World) and endearing Pixar stories (Inside Out).

The Bottom Line

For the next couple of weeks, movie fans get to suffer through an embarrassment of riches; there’s a stacked lineup of A-list films slated from now right through awards season that provides a little bit of something for everyone. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 sports an A-list celebrity in a solid sci-fi/fantasy film, The Night Before offers up some “raunch-comedy bromance”, The Good Dinosaur provides a heart-felt family film, while there is also even a little bit of horror on the horizon in Krampus. There is also a little sci-fi film a few of you may have heard of called Star Wars: The Force Awakens. No matter who walks away as this holiday season’s box-office champion, movie fans come out the winner.

Movies To Look Forward To

Creed (November 25), Victor Frankenstein (November 25), Macbeth (December 4), The Big Short (December 11), Star Wars: The Force Awakens (December 14).

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