8) The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2
Worldwide Box Office: $646 Million (#9)
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 was a disappointment, and also largely unnecessary. The majority of the book’s fans agree that there was no need to ever split the final novel into two, but that’s been the “in” thing in Hollywood for a while, with even superhero movies adopting the same two part approach over the next few years. It’s a good job then that Part 2 of Mockingjay delivered plenty of epic action to make up for the often tedious Part 1.
Despite being extremely grim in places, Mockingjay – Part 2 succeeded in delivering a satisfying resolution to both the story and this chapter of Jennifer Lawrence’s career. While she’ll no doubt star in plenty of other big budget blockbusters in the course of her career, it felt like she had outgrown Katniss Everdeen by the time this final instalment was released. Still, credit goes to the Oscar winner for giving this final turn her all.
While Lionsgate would have no doubt been over the moon seeing this final instalment hit the $1 billion mark, it fell well short of that and the near $700 million haul of its predecessor.
That’s less an indictment of this movie’s quality than it is Mockingjay – Part 1 of course, and as these Young Adult adaptations go, you have to hand it to The Hunger Games franchise for finding a larger audience outside of teenagers and book fans.
