Hunger Games - Mockingjay Part 2 Box Office Results Worst in the Series

It's rare for a film that debuts with a box office take of more than $100 million to be considered a disappointment, but this was the case with the release of the much-hyped Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 this weekend.

The massive success of the previous parts was such that expectations were extremely high for the new movie. Although it made $101 million, it fell short of Mockingjay Part 1, which opened with $121.9 million. The series high is the second movie, Catching Fire, which opened to a colossal $158 million in 2013.

As Deadline reports, the 35 percent decline in revenue from Catching Fire can be put down to a number of factors, with one source suggesting that the the dip was inevitable following Part 1's reduced earnings, and that the dark, somber tone of the last two films may have put some viewers off.

Nevertheless, Mockingjay Part 2 is still remains one of only 34 movies ever to open above $100 million. It has taken $247 million worldwide, and as Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Rentrak, told Bloomberg, "At the end of the day this franchise will be pushing in on $3 billion."

"The overall marketplace is down this weekend and has been for the past few weeks, because it is overly crowded and there are a lot of distractions in the world," he added.

Although Mockingjay Part 2 concludes the adaptations of Suzanne Collins's novels, there has been suggestions that the franchise will continue past this point. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, director Francis Lawrence stated that he would love to be involved with future Hunger Games movies. "The interesting part of the story for me is to go back 75 years earlier and see how everything became the way it is," he said.

In February, Den of Geek quoted Jon Feltheimer, CEO of Lionsgate, as saying that the studio were "actively looking at some development and thinking about prequel and sequel possibilities." And in July, co-star Josh Hutcherson also revealed during an appearance on Conan O'Brien's late night show that Lionsgate had further plans for the franchise.