‘Mockingjay’ Disarms ‘Penguins’ to Retain Top Spot at U.S. Box Office

“The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1,” the third film in the dystopian action series starring Jennifer Lawrence, collected 56.9 million dollars from movie theatres.

The resurgent movie had to hold off advances by animated films

“Penguins of Madagascar” and “Big Hero 6″, and claim victory at the U.S. holiday weekend box office.

“Penguins of Madagascar,” the fourth in the series of “Madagascar” films, waddled into second place on its opening weekend with 25.8 million dollars at U.S. and Canadian theatres.

It did so for the three days ending on Sunday, according to tracking firm Rentrak.

Walt Disney’s “Big Hero 6,” the box office champion three weeks ago, was third with 18.8 million dollars in ticket sales.

The film has generated 167 million dollars since its Nov. 7 release.

“Mockingjay,” which stars Lawrence as young archer Katniss Everdeen who leads a rebellion, recorded 82.7 million dollars over the five-day Thanksgiving Day weekend.

The movie has generated more than 225 million dollars since opening on Nov. 21, according to Rentrak.

The film, which scored the third-highest total ever for a five-day Thanksgiving weekend, has raked in 254 million dollars outside the U.S. and Canada, for a global take of 480 million dollars.

“Penguins” added another $36 million from overseas box offices for a global total of 72 million dollars, according to distributor 20th Century Fox.

The family film saw 58 per cent of its audience under age 25 amid what the studio called a soft Thanksgiving marketplace overall.

The Thanksgiving box office haul of 230 million dollars for Wednesday through Sunday fell far short of the record-setting figures a year ago.

Rounding out the weekend’s top five, director Christopher Nolan’s space adventure Interstellar starring Matthew McConaughey took in 15.8 million dollars boosted by premium-priced IMAX screenings.

While the new Jason Bateman-Jennifer Aniston film “Horrible Bosses 2″ was fifth with 15.7 million dollars.

“The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1″ was distributed by Lionsgate. 20th Century Fox, the unit of 21st Century Fox, released the Dreamworks production “Penguins of Madagascar.”

Warner Brothers, a unit of Time Warner, distributed “Horrible Bosses 2.” “Interstellar” was released by Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom.