‘Mockingjay’ leads holiday weekend box office; ‘Creed,’ ‘Good Dinosaur’ continue strong

Midway through the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, movie box office receipts look to be up over 2014 with a trio of movies -- “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay -- Part 2,� “The Good Dinosaur� and “Creed� -- fueling a crowded weekend at the multiplex.

“Mockingjay,� the final installment in the popular “Hunger Games� series, led the way, taking in $21.25 million on Black Friday, pushing its total box office to $167.9 million. Analysts see the movie grossing between $73 million and $75 million over the five-day weekend, bringing its domestic total to around $200 million.

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Pixar’s latest animated offering, “The Good Dinosaur,� sold $15.7 million in tickets Friday, putting its five-day projection at $55 million. Arriving five months after the critically acclaimed commercial powerhouse “Inside Out,� “The Good Dinosaur� marks the first time Pixar has released two movies in the same calendar year.

Audiences for its opening weekend liked “Dinosaur� better than critics did, giving the movie an A grade per the market research firm Cinemascore. The movie received a 67 score from the movie review aggregator site Metacritic; “Inside Out� scored a 94.

The “Rocky� spinoff “Creed,� the weekend’s other major debut, grossed $11.7 million Friday, putting it on pace for a $40-million five-day total. The movie, which has Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa character training Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan), the son of his one-time rival Apollo Creed, received favorable reviews and packed a punch with audiences, too, pulling in an A Cinemascore grade.

The stellar Cinemascore audience satisfaction grades for “Creed� and “The Good Dinosaur� indicate both movies could have some staying power in the competitive holiday multiplex marketplace.

One movie that probably won’t make it far into December is “Victor Frankenstein,� the weekend’s third studio debut. The film, which tells the Frankenstein story from the perspective of Igor (Daniel Radcliffe), is projected to finish the weekend with a $3-million take. Again, audiences and critics agreed: “Frankenstein� received a C Cinemascore and a 35 on Metacritic.

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