Box office: ‘In the Heart of the Sea’ sinks below ‘Mockingjay -- Part 2’

As audiences awaited the premiere of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens� later this week, the new release “In the Heart of the Sea� couldn’t find much of an audience or poach the top box-office spot from “The Hunger Games� finale, which finished at No. 1 for the fourth-straight weekend.

“In the Heart of the Sea,� Warner Bros.’ 19th century whaling film starring Chris Hemsworth and directed by Ron Howard, generated an estimated $11 million in ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada. That fell below modest projections of $12 million for its opening weekend.

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“It’s really a marathon and not a sprint with a film like this,� said Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros. executive vice president of distribution. “When you have an older-skewing audience, like this film, they don’t come out during opening week. You need some time for the audience to hear about it.�

The film is based on the true story that inspired the celebrated Herman Melville novel “Moby-Dick.� Audiences gave it a B-plus grade, according to polling firm CinemaScore. But critics weren’t as kind, with only 43% of those on Rotten Tomatoes giving the film a positive rating.

Goldstein said he was optimistic that the film will perform well in the long term once word of mouth spreads among its audience, which was mostly male (54%) and older than 35 (68%).

Considering it cost nearly $100 million to produce, “In the Heart of the Sea� marks another potential disappointment for the studio following “Pan� and “Our Brand Is Crisis,� although its “Rocky� spinoff “Creed� continues to do well and its 2016 lineup includes heavyweights “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice�, “Suicide Squad,� Clint Eastwood’s “Sully� and “Central Intelligence� with Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart.

In the present, however, it was “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2� that proved to be a box-office heavyweight for Lionsgate. Since its Nov. 20 debut, the latest film based on Suzanne Collins’ novels has grossed almost $245 million domestically. It added $11.3 million this weekend.

Worldwide, the movie starring Jennifer Lawrence has sold more than $564 million in tickets.

Walt Disney Co.’s “The Good Dinosaur� won third place by adding $10.5 million. The latest animated offering from Pixar is now knocking on the door of $90 million domestically. Globally, the film neared the $170-million mark as it plays strongest in Latin America, with good showings also in France, Germany and Southeast Asia.

The New Line Cinema and MGM-financed “Creed� took the fourth spot in its third week, pulling in an estimated $10.1 million. The film, starring Michael B. Jordan as the son of Apollo Creed, has made nearly $80 million domestically.

Sylvester Stallone, who reprises his role as Rocky Balboa, landed a Golden Globe nomination last week for his performance. It’s his first Globes nomination in almost 40 years.

Rounding out the top five is the Universal Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ “Krampus� with $8 million. Based on an ancient Alpine Christmas legend, the film, starring Adam Scott and Toni Colette, follows a modern dysfunctional family whose holiday celebration is overturned by the demonic, goat-like counterpart to St. Nicholas.

In limited release, Paramount Pictures and Regency Enterprises opened “The Big Short,� the comedy-drama about a group of Wall Street types (Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell and Christian Bale) who bet against the big banks and the housing market. The Adam McKay-directed picture pulled in an estimated $720,000 at eight locations. That’s a strong per-screen average of $90,000.

The film earned strong word of mouth — an 86% positive critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an A grade from CinemaScore audiences — plus four Golden Globe nominations, including for best picture comedy. It also received a Screen Actors Guild nomination for the ensemble and a win from the National Board of Review for ensemble. These recognitions should help the film when it opens nationwide Dec. 23.

Open Road’s “Spotlight� and Fox Searchlight’s “Brooklyn,� both with SAG and Golden Globes nominations, continue to perform well. “Spotlight� finished in ninth place ($2.5 million), and “Brooklyn� finished in 10th ($2 million).

With the winds of award season blowing at its back, the Weinstein Co.’s “Carol� also built its audience. After adding 12 locations for a total of 16 in its fourth weekend, the film earned about $337,000 this weekend for a cumulative gross of $1.2 million.

Next weekend is all “Star Wars.� The latest addition in the franchise, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,� opens Thursday night.

Get your life! Follow me on Twitter: @TrevellAnderson.