Box-Office Preview: 'Mockingjay' Will Be a Gale Force Over the Holidays
If there’s one undeniable fact, it’s that there’s something for (mostly) everyone at the Thanksgiving box office.
New Line and Warner Bros.’ R-rated comedy Horrible Bosses 2 will go after younger adults and older teens looking for a laugh, while Penguins of Madagascar, a spinoff of DreamWorks Animation’s popular Madagascar franchise, hopes to nab families. Both begin rolling out Tuesday night in North America before playing everywhere on Wednesday, a popular day for moviegoing.
Related: 'Star Wars: Episode VII' Teaser To Debut In Theaters This Weekend
The other Thanksgiving headline to watch is a teaser trailer for J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The 88-second tease will begin playing Friday morning in 30 theaters across the country, before every movie and every showing.
In term of sheer might, holdover The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1 should easily win the five-day turkey race with a gross in the $80 million range, including an estimated $50 million to $55 million for the weekend. Last Thanksgiving, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire likewise topped Thanksgiving after opening the week before.
Jeffrey Katzenberg's DWA needs a box office success, and while Penguins certainly won’t match the $94.6 million grossed by Disney’s Frozen last Thanksgiving, it should post a solid five-day gross in the $45 million-$47 million range, including a weekend take of $32 million to $34 million. (Disney’s Big Hero 6 continues to hold well, however, and could take a bite out of Penguins.)
Directed by Eric Darnell and Simon J. Smith, Penguins is voiced by John Malkovich, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom McGrath, Christopher Knights, Chris Miller, Conrad Vernon, Peter Stormare, Ken Jeong and Annet Mahendru.
Horrible Bosses 2 is looking like a clear winner for New Line and Warner Bros. The sequel is one of the few R-rated comedies to ever dare open Thanksgiving, and could gross $35 million to $40 million for the five days, if not more. For the weekend itself, it could gross $23 million to $25 million. The first Horrible Bosses opened to $28.2 million in summer 2011 on its way to earning a stellar $209.6 million worldwide.
Directed this time out by Sean Anders (Sex Tape), Horrible Bosses 2 reteams most of the original cast, including Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis, whose characters set out to start their own business, only to be swindled. Jennifer Aniston, Jamie Foxx, Chris Pine, Christoph Waltz and Kevin Spacey also star.
Related: Film Independent Spirit Award Nominations Announced
As awards season heats up, there’s a slew of offerings for adults at the specialty box office including Stephen Hawking biopic The Theory of Everything, which will be playing in roughly 700 theaters by Thanksgiving day. Other awards contenders in the marketplace include holdovers Birdman, Foxcatcher and Whiplash, Boyhood, while The Imitation Game, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, opens Friday in New York and Los Angeles.
Birdman, Boyhood and Whiplash could also enjoy a boost this weekend after scoring key Independent Spirit Nominations (Birdman lead with six noms).
