The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 Opening Night Box Office Is $17 Million

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay—Part 1 burned through $17 million in viewers' pockets on its Thursday night opening in North America.

With those numbers, The Hunger Games' opening finale became the year's highest-grossing Thursday night release, according to The Hollywood Reporter. It was nothing compared to last year's previous Hunger Games installment, Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which raked in $25.3 million on its Thursday night debut. Catching Fire had the power of IMAX screenings behind it, however, which Mockingjay doesn't (Interstellar is still using all of the IMAX screens). But even the first Hunger Games managed to outperform Mockingly—Part 1, without the boost of IMAX screenings. That film made $19.7 million.

Still, Mockingjay—Part 1 is still on track to generate its projected $150 million for the opening weekend. Catching Fire caught $158.1 million on its opening weekend, and Hunger Games took in $152.5 million.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay—Part 1 opens internationally today.