There will be a clear winner at the North American weekend box office from Friday (November 20) through Sunday (November 22) as “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2” slaughters the competition. The film, the fourth and final in the franchise, is set to take in as much as 126 million dollars in ticket sales. The movie, which stars Jennifer Lawrence as heroine Katniss Everdeen, has received kind reviews from critics. The Wall Street Journal wrote, “Katniss has remained, in Jennifer Lawrence’s portrayal, a vividly vulnerable creature of flesh and blood surrounded by sci-fi extravagance of variable quality.”
Also new this weekend is the holiday film, “The Night Before,” which stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, and Anthony Mackie as three friends who embark on their annual Christmas Eve night of debauchery. The film has earned decent reviews. The Toronto Sun wrote, “The new movie is profane, insane, politically incorrect, religiously irreverent and ridiculously funny.” It’s expected to earn 16 million dollars.
The third movie debuting this weekend is “Secret in Their Eyes,” starring Julia Roberts as an investigator torn apart by her own daughter’s murder. The film has earned mainly poor reviews. The Washington Post wrote, “As the movie wears on, the plot points become increasingly far-fetched, and what started out as a moody if by-the-book thriller becomes increasingly silly.” It’s expected to earn 8 to 9 million dollars.
Holding over from previous weeks, “Spectre,” the latest in the Bond franchise, is expected to add another 17 million to its global haul of 550 million dollars; and “The Peanuts Movie” should see another 13 million to its international earnings of 93 million dollars.
