The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2

On July 10, 2012, Lionsgate announced that the film adaptation of Mockingjay would be split into two parts; The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, released on November 21, 2014, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, released November 20, 2015.[8] On November 1, 2012, Francis Lawrence, director of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, announced that he would return to direct both final films in the series.[9] Talking about direction for last two parts Francis explains, "I felt a different kind of pressure," he explains. "[On 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire'], I had to prove myself a little bit as the new guy in the game. It was a relief that it was received well by the fans. Even though I was relieved, it was only momentary; it sort of set the bar higher for the next one!"[10]

On December 6, 2012, Danny Strong announced that he would write the third and fourth films.[11] On February 15, 2013, Lionsgate approved the script for Part 1 and gave Strong permission to write that of Part 2.[12] In August, Hemsworth confirmed that shooting of the film would begin the following month.[13]

The film's production began on September 16, 2013, in Boston, Atlanta, and Los Angeles.[14] Studio Babelsberg co-produced and oversaw production services for the film.[15] On November 13, 2013, producer Nina Jacobson revealed that Peter Craig was also hired to write the adaptations. The film carried a production budget of $160 million with a further $55 million spent on promotion and advertisements, and $13.9 million in television advertisements.[16]

Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Plutarch Heavensbee in his final appearance before his death in 2014.

All the principal cast such as Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss, Josh Hutcherson as Peeta, Liam Hemsworth as Gale, Woody Harrelson as Haymitch, Donald Sutherland as President Snow, Elizabeth Banks as Effie, Willow Shields as Prim, Paula Malcomson as Katniss’ mother and Stanley Tucci as Caesar,[17] return to reprise their roles.[18] Julianne Moore also returned to reprise her role as President Alma Coin, along with Philip Seymour Hoffman, who died during the filming in February 2014, as Plutarch. He had nearly completed his scenes,[19] and his two remaining scenes were rewritten to compensate for his absence.[20] Regarding Hoffman's scenes, Francis Lawrence commented that, "He had two substantial scenes left and the rest were appearances in other scenes. We had no intention of trying to fake a performance, so we rewrote those scenes to give to other actors… The rest, we just didn't have him appear in those scenes. There's no digital manipulation or CG fabrication of any kind."[21] One of the changed scenes saw the character of Plutarch sending Katniss a letter in prison, read by Haymitch, rather than coming himself to talk to her after her arrest for assassinating President Coin, explained as him being unable to see her for political reasons after her actions, which he nonetheless supports.

On August 26, 2013, it was announced that actress Stef Dawson had joined the cast to portray Annie Cresta.[22] Lionsgate announced on September 13, 2013, that Julianne Moore joined the cast to play President Alma Coin.[23] The same month, Lily Rabe, Patina Miller, Mahershala Ali, Wes Chatham, and Elden Henson were announced to have joined the cast, to reprise their roles of Commander Lyme, Commander Paylor, Boggs, Castor, and Pollux, respectively.[24][25][26][27] During this time, there was also a casting call for extras.[28] Rabe subsequently had to leave the film due to a scheduling conflict with the 2014 Shakespeare in the Park production of Much Ado About Nothing.[29] On April 4, 2014, it was announced that she would be replaced by Gwendoline Christie to portray Lyme.[18][30]

Filming scenes for District 2 at Berlin Tempelhof Airport in May 2014

Principal photography began on September 23, 2013, in Atlanta, and concluded on June 20, 2014, in Berlin, Germany;[31] the two parts were filmed back-to-back.[5] In October 2013, filming took place in Rockmart, Georgia.[32] After the cast and crew took a break to promote The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, filming resumed on December 2, 2013. On December 14, 2013, shooting was held at the Marriott Marquis in Atlanta.[33] On December 18, shooting began at Caldwell Tanks in Newnan, Georgia.[34]

Philip Seymour Hoffman died on February 2, 2014. He had completed filming his scenes for Part 1 and had a week left of shooting for Part 2; Lionsgate thereafter released a statement affirming that since the majority of Hoffman's scenes had been completed, the release date for Part 2 would not be affected.[35][36] It was initially announced that Hoffman would be digitally recreated for a major scene involving his character that had not been shot,[37][38] but Francis Lawrence later stated that he had rewritten Hoffman's two remaining scenes to compensate for the actor's absence, and there would be "no digital manipulation or CG fabrication of any kind".[39] In a scene near the end of the film which was to have shown Plutarch speaking with Katniss in detention, Woody Harrelson's character instead reads her a letter from him.[40]

Filming in Atlanta completed in mid-April 2014,[41] and production moved to Europe.[42][43] On May 9, filming took place in Noisy le Grand, Paris. It is the same location where Brazil (1985) was filmed 30 years earlier.[44] Toward the end of May, the cast and crew shot scenes at several locations in Berlin and Brandenburg, Germany. In Rüdersdorf, Brandenburg, the crew shot scenes for the portrayal of District 8 in an old cement factory. Hemsworth was injured on the set and was brought to a doctor in the Berlin borough Mitte.[45] Scenes for District 2 were shot at Berlin Tempelhof Airport.[46] Scenes for the underground approach on the Capitol were filmed in the Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel in Japan. A German casting agency sought 1,000 ethnically diverse extras (African, Asian, Southern-European, and Turkish) and "lived faces" to shoot scenes at the Babelsberg Film Studio.[47]

The film score was released on December 4, 2015. James Newton Howard returned to compose the film score; unlike the previous films in the series, there is no additional pop companion album with songs inspired by the film.[49] Jennifer Lawrence performed "Deep in the Meadow",[50] a lullaby that she sang in the first film.[51]

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 was released on Digital HD on March 8, 2016, and was followed by a Blu-ray and DVD release on March 22, 2016.[74] It topped the home video sales chart for the week ending on March 27, 2016.[75] The entire Hunger Games series was released on 4K UHD Blu-Ray on November 8, 2016.[76]

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 fell short of expectations at the box office.[77] It grossed a total of $281.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $376.6 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $658.3 million.[4] Its worldwide opening of $247.2 million is the 27th-highest of all time.[78] It is the lowest-grossing film in The Hunger Games film series,[79] and the ninth-highest-grossing film of 2015,[80] Lionsgate's co-chairman Rob Friedman blamed the impact of the November 2015 Paris attacks as well as Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens for the film's underwhelming performance in certain European countries and in the U.S. and Canada, further blaming the latter for cutting the film's North American gross by as much as $50–100 million.[81] Deadline Hollywood, noted that Mockingjay – Part 2 had the lowest opening among the series and was already grossing behind Mockingjay – Part 1 by $32.7 million or 12% before The Force Awakens even opened.[82] Deadline also stated that the November attacks in Paris did not noticeably affect the European release of Mockingjay – Part 2.[83] In China the film notably grossed a disappointing $21.5 million, which the studio blamed on the competition with The Martian and Spectre, along with Taiwanese film Our Times.[81][84] Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $134.3 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues for the film.[6]

In North America, according to pre-release trackings, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 was initially projected to earn around $120–125 million in its opening weekend.[85][86] However, estimates decreased to a mid-$110 million range once the film approached its opening day.[87][88] It made $16 million from its Thursday night preview which is the lowest among the franchise but the third-highest of 2015,[89] and $45.5 million on its opening day.[90] In its opening weekend, the film grossed $102.7 million, finishing first at the box office but falling below expectations and becoming the lowest opening among the franchise.[91] Sources attributed the franchise-low opening to heavy winter weather hitting areas such as South Dakota, Michigan, and Chicago as well as Lionsgate's decision to split the last novel into two separate pictures.[92] Still, it is the fourth film in the Hunger Games film series to open with more than $100 million, and 2015's sixth-highest opening, behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Jurassic World, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Furious 7, and Minions.[93] IMAX comprised $8.5 million of the opening gross from 384 IMAX locations.[92] The below-expectations opening of the film led to the decline of Lionsgate stock the day after its opening weekend.[94] The film retained the top spot at the box office in the second weekend, declining 49.3% and grossing $52 million.[95] It topped the box office for the third consecutive weekend despite facing competition with the animated movie The Good Dinosaur and the horror comedy Krampus in its second and third weekend, respectively.[96] In total, it held the No. 1 spot in the North American box office for four consecutive weekends (even after facing competition with In the Heart of the Sea in its fourth weekend), becoming the first film since Furious 7 to top the box office for four straight weekends and the second film in The Hunger Games film series after 2012's The Hunger Games to achieve this feat.[97][98] Mockingjay – Part 2 grossed a total of $281 million, 17% less than Mockingjay – Part 1 and is also the lowest when compared with the two other films in the series.[4][99]

Outside North America, the film was released in a total of 92 countries.[100][101] It was projected by many box office analysts to surpass the openings of all the previous Hunger Games film, considering it was the last installment, and that its release date was the same in 87 markets, including China (the latter being a rare phenomenon). It was projected to gross around $165–185 million.[73] However, it ended up earning $144.5 million across 32,500 screens from 87 markets opening at No. 1 in 81 of them.[102][103] The underperformance was attributed to the 2015 Paris terror attacks, which affected many parts of Europe, and the rising value of the U.S. dollar.[104] Earning $62 million (down 57%) and $30.05 million (down 49%) in its second and third weekend, respectively, it topped the international box office for four consecutive weekends.[100][101][105]

The United Kingdom posted the highest opening with $17.1 million followed by China with $15.8 million, Germany ($15 million), Mexico ($8.9 million) France ($7.1 million), Australia ($6.8 million), Brazil ($6.8 million), Russia ($6.7 million), Venezuela ($5.6 million), and Italy ($4.3 million).[102] In China, it opened at No. 1 despite facing competition with Taiwanese film Our Times, and the continued run of Spectre and having an underperforming opening.[93][102] It fell precipitously by 88.6% in its second weekend, which is the worst second-weekend drop for any major Hollywood release in China of 2015.[106][107] Notably in France, the opening was above expectations considering cinemagoers being affected by the Paris terror attacks and the heightened state of alert in Belgium at that time.[102] It topped the United Kingdom and Ireland box office for four consecutive weekends which is a rare achievement and thereby becoming the first film since Les Misérables in 2013 to have four straight weeks of win at the UK box office.[108] It was the highest-grossing film of 2015 in Colombia with $36 million.[109] In terms of total earnings its largest markets are Germany ($43.7 million) and the United Kingdom ($43.1 million), and Colombia ($36 million).[110][111]

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for action sequences and performances but criticism for splitting the book into two separate adaptations.[112] On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 69%, based on 288 reviews, with an average rating of 6.49/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "With the unflinchingly grim Mockingjay Part 2, The Hunger Games comes to an exciting, poignant, and overall satisfying conclusion."[113] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 65 out of 100, based on 44 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[114] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.[115]

Lawrence, Hutcherson, and Sutherland received praise for their performances. The supporting cast's performances, particularly Harrelson, Claflin, and Malone's, were also highly praised, but critics felt their appearances were too brief. Several critics also commented on the film's dark tone, even by comparison to its predecessors.[113][114] Manohla Dargis from The New York Times praised Lawrence's character saying, "Katniss is the right heroine for these neo-feminist times."[116] Stephen Whitty from New York Daily News said, "'Remember that line from the first 'Hunger Games' film: "May the odds be ever in your favor"? Yeah, well, that luck has run out'."[117]

Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly remarked, "With its political power struggles and prodigious body count, all rendered in a thousand shades of wintry greige, the movie feels less like teen entertainment than a sort of Hunger Games of Thrones."[118] Robbie Collin awarded the film four out of five stars and called the film "scorchingly tense". In his review for The Telegraph, he praised the film for "being intense" and lauded the performances of Lawrence and Hoffman."[119]

Benjamin Lee, writing for The Guardian, felt that "the decision to split the final chapter of the dystopian saga into two chapters looms large over a frustratingly-paced mixture of thrilling action and surprisingly dark drama." He praised Jennifer Lawrence's acting and Francis Lawrence's direction and commented, "The decision to turn a 390-page book into over four hours' worth of screen time (and a bonus payday) has resulted in a patchy end to a franchise that started so promisingly."[120] Tom Huddleston of Time Out gave the film four out of five stars. He praised the ending of the film as "genuinely powerful", and commented that "this might be the most downbeat blockbuster in memory, a film that starts out pitiless and goes downhill from there, save for a fleeting glimmer of hope in the final moments. It's a bold statement about the unforgiving nature of war, unashamedly political in its motives and quietly devastating in its emotional effect."[121]