Box Office: 'Hunger Games,' 'Krampus' Top Slow Post-Thanksgiving Weekend

By Brent Lang
LOS ANGELES, Dec 6 (Variety.com) - Wake Hollywood up when
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" arrives.
With two weeks to go before Luke, Leia, Han, and a phalanx
of storm troopers and droids descend on multiplexes, "The Hunger
Games: Mockingjay - Part 2" topped box office charts in an
otherwise quiet weekend. The science-fiction sequel earned $18.6
million, pushing its stateside haul to $ $227.1 million.
The weekend after Thanksgiving is historically one of the
slowest of the year and the 2015 edition didn't break with
tradition. Studios largely steered clear of offering up new
releases, with the one major exception being "Krampus," a darkly
comic horror film from Legendary and Universal that picked up a
solid $16 million. The story of a horned demon who injects a
sinister edge into a Suburban family's Christmas celebrations
stars Adam Scott and Toni Collette. It was directed by Michael
Dougherty ("Trick 'r Treat").
Without much in the way of new blood, a trio of holdovers
rounded out the top five. "Creed" rode Oscar buzz and strong
word-of-mouth to a third place finish, racking up $15.5 million
to drive the "Rocky" spin-off's domestic total to $65.1 million.
"The Good Dinosaur" finished in fourth with $15.5 million. The
Pixar and Disney animated film has earned $75.9 million. And
"Spectre" took fifth position with $5.4 million. The latest
James Bond adventure has earned $184.5 million.
In a failed bid for the faith-based crowd, Freestyle
Releasing offered up "The Letters," a look at the life of Mother
Teresa, in 886 theaters, where it grossed an uninspiring
$802,000.
In limited release, the Weinstein Company opened "MacBeth"
in five theaters, where the film adaptation of the "Scottish
Play" earned a lackluster $67,868, for a per-screen average of
$13,573.
Fox Searchlight's "Youth" fared slightly better, nabbing
80,000 from four theaters for a per-location average of $20,000.
The picture centers on an aging composer (Michael Caine) at a
spa and is directed by "The Great Beauty" Oscar-winner Paolo
Sorrentino.