Warner Bros.' Moby Dick flick, In the Heart of the Sea—which stars Chris Hemsworth—just missed debuting at #1 thanks to the incredible staying power of the final installment of Lionsgate's Hunger Games. The two blockbusters earned $11m and $11.3m, respectively.
The biographical adventure picture about the 1820 sinking of American whaling ship Essex (which purportedly inspired the Herman Melville classic) opened to disappointing reviews and fell quite short of its $100m budget.
1. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (Lionsgate) $11.3m 3,651/$3,095 avg. (week 4)
2. In the Heart of the Sea (Warner Bros.) $11m 3,103/$3,547 avg. (debut)
3. The Good Dinosaur (Buena Vista) $10.5m 3,606/$2,911 avg. (week 3)
4. Creed (Warner Bros.) $10.1m 3,502/$2,890 avg. (week 3)
5. Krampus (Universal) $8m 2,919/$2,744 avg. (week 2)
On the limited-release front, Paramount's The Big Short scored a whopping $720k from just eight theaters (a $90k average). The film is based on Michael Lewis' 2010 book of the same name, centers around the 2007-2010 financial crisis and boasts an all-star cast of Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt.
It's already nabbed four Golden Globe nominations, as well as two Screen Actor's Guild noms, including Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. Pass the popcorn, buddy, and don't forget the cannabutter. Awards season is coming.