Overall, the box office was down 20% from 2013. The decline meant that year-to-date ticket sales are now tracking more than 4% behind 2013’s — they were down 3.6% going into the holiday.
“It’s been a roller coaster box office year, so it was no surprise that Thanksgiving was another roller coaster week,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Rentrak. “Just like it did in the summer, 2013 is providing a formidable set of comparisons.”
Even “Mockingjay – Part 1,” which became the third highest grossing Thanksgiving release, couldn’t keep pace with the ghosts of “Hunger Games” past. Last year, its predecessor, “Catching Fire,” set a new record, picking up $110 million during the five day holiday. That year also saw “Frozen” become the year’s second highest grossing Thanksgiving week release of all time with a $93 million bounty.
Internationally, “Mockingjay – Part 1″ grossed an estimated $67 million from 86 foreign markets, bringing its estimated foreign total to $254.4 million. The film’s North American total through the weekend is $225.7 million.
Two holdovers benefited from the increased traffic at the multiplexes. “Big Hero 6″ continued to draw family crowds and likely cut into “Penguins of Madagascar’s” box office numbers. The animated film picked up roughly $26 million over the five days and $18.7 million for the weekend, which put its domestic haul at $167.2 million.
“Interstellar” also showed impressive stamina. Christopher Nolan’s space adventure has enjoyed a lift from Imax screens, which it holds onto until “The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies” lands in theaters on Dec. 17. The film earned $15.8 million for the weekend and $22 million for the five day period. Its stateside total stands at $147.1 million.
“Insterstellar” also got a bump from the unveiling of the “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” teaser, which was shown in 20 Imax auditoriums. Domestically, Imax contributed $7.8 million from 370 screens for the five day marathon.