Audiences Hungry for 'Mockingjay,' Hunger Games No. 1 at Box Office

A heroine named Katniss proved to be catnip to the nation’s moviegoers this weekend, as “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2″ opened with $101 million in ticket sales.

But the second installment in the Hunger Games franchise failed to equal the blockbuster power of its predecessor, “Mockingjay, Part 1,” which opened at $121.9 million, according to Rentrak.

The Hunger Games franchise has accumulated $2.3 billion worldwide in theaters, in advance of “Mockingjay, Part 2,” said movie industry analyst Paul Degarabedian at Rentrak.

In second place in the United States and Canada this weekend was “Spectre,” the latest James Bond movie, with an estimated weekend gross sales total of $14.6 million.

And in third was “The Peanuts Movie,” with $12.8 million.

Two debuts made the top five list: “The Night Before,” at $10.1 million and “Secret In Their Eyes” at $6.6 million.

Rounding out the 10 most-popular movies in North America, as estimated by the studios and collated by Rentrak, were “Love The Coopers” ($3.9 million), “The Martian” ($2 million), “Spotlight” ($3.6 million), “The 33″ (2.2 million) and “Bridge Of Spies” ($1.9 million).

— City News Service, photo via Lionsgate