LOS ANGELES • It was one of those weekends when a movie opened to massive ticket sales and still disappointed: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, the finale of one of the decade's biggest film franchises, took in about US$101 million (S$143 million) at North American theatres, a 17 per cent decline from initial sales for Part 1.

Franchise fatigue likely played a role. Some box-office analysts wondered on Sunday if terror attacks overseas were making some Americans less likely to visit theatres.

Lionsgate, which spent roughly US$160 million to make Part 2, had no comment about the film's domestic results. A spokesman noted that Part 2 collected an additional US$146 million, a hefty total, from 87 international markets. The worldwide haul of US$247 million was still less than the US$274.9 million global kickoff enjoyed by Part 1 and far below the US$300 million weekend that some analysts had predicted.

The new Hunger Games movie is well positioned to draw crowds over this weekend's Thanksgiving holiday. Part 2, again starring Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen, received stronger reviews than Part 1.

Among other new wide releases, The Night Before (Sony Pictures), an R-rated Christmas comedy that cost roughly US$25 million to make, took in US$10.1 million, according to Rentrak, which compiles box-office data.

The Secret In Their Eyes (STX Entertainment), a thriller starring Julia Roberts, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Nicole Kidman, arrived to a soft US$6.6 million; it was financed by IM Global for about US$20 million.

At art houses, Brooklyn (Fox Searchlight) continued to perform well and new release Carol (The Weinstein Company), starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, posted strong results in extremely limited release.

NEW YORK TIMES, REUTERS