Weekend Box Office: In The Heart Of The Sea Flounders As Mockingjay - Part 2 Fishes Up A Fourth Number Onev

Mockingjay - Part 2 has struggled to make the kinds of money the three previous Hunger Games franchise entries have made, but this weekend it got a small badge of honor of its own to wear as the only new comer handed it an early Christmas gift. 

For the fourth weekend in a row, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 and remained at the top of the box office chart, making it the only movie in the franchise to stay at number one that long since the original Hunger Games movie in 2012. Of course, in this case that honor was only bestowed because the newcomer tanked. 

In The Heart of the Sea was full of big beautiful ocean special effects and had to carry Chris Hemsworth's Thor sized salary demands, but still managed to come in on a reported production budget of $100 million. Relatively modest as that was, the movie sank in theaters, earning just $11 million domestically for a weak second place debyt. Add in just $39 million abroad for a $50 million total and you have a holiday non-starter that is a much weaker than expected finisher for Warner Brothers who have had a less than stellar year. 

While Howard has had some major blockbusters, some of his movies are no strangers to walking the thin red line between profits and loss. 2008's Frost Nixonearned just $27 million internationally against a reported $25 million budget, and his 2011 comedy The Dilemma only grossed $69 million against its $70 million production cost. But In The Heart of the Sea's weak start may push the movie into strong red territory, leaving it alongside Howard's other financial flops like EDTv andThe Missing. 

In small release, just 8 venues, Christian Bale and Brad Pitt's newest based-on-a-true-story social commentary drama The Big Short banked $90,000 per location for a whopping $270,000 opening. It doesn't open wide until the last week of the year, but if this strong start is any indication it may become a contender against Will Smith's newest based-on-a-true-story social commentary drama Concussion and Robert DeNiro and Jennifer Lawresnce's newest based-on-a-true-story social commentary dramedy Joy, both of which also roll out at Christmas. 

For the full weekend top ten, check out the chart below: 

1. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2   EM $11,300,000 Total: $244,490,956 LW: 1    THTRS: 3,651 2. In the Heart of the Sea *  EM $11,005,000 Total: $11,005,000 LW: N     THTRS: 3,103 3. The Good Dinosaur   EM $10,497,000 Total: $89,660,791 LW: 3    THTRS: 3,606 4. Creed   EM $10,120,000 Total: $79,321,018 LW: 4    THTRS: 3,502 5. Krampus   EM $8,010,000 Total: $28,151,330 LW: 2    THTRS: 2,919 6. Spectre   EM $4,000,000 Total: $190,767,660 LW: 5    THTRS: 2,640 7. The Night Before   EM $3,900,000 Total: $38,205,656 LW: 6    THTRS: 2,674 8. The Peanuts Movie   EM $2,650,000 Total: $124,955,585 LW: 7    THTRS: 2,653 9. Spotlight   EM $2,508,853 Total: $20,302,802 LW: 8    THTRS: 1,089 10. Brooklyn   EM $1,975,000 Total: $14,330,423 LW: 9    THTRS: 947