'Mockingjay-Part 1' Set to Dominate On What Could Be the Slowest Weekend of the Year

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 might be a financial disappointment next to its older sister Catching Fire, but as it goes into what's sure to be its third weekend at number one, you can't deny it has staying power. Though it's not like there's a lot coming out to challenge it this weekend. The biggest release is horror flick The Pyramid, the directorial debut of Grégory Levasseur, co-writer of 2006's The Hills Have Eyes remake and a producer of the cinematic masterpiece that is Piranha 3D, which I bet you'd managed to forget about before I mentioned it. Sorry.

You might not have heard of The Pyramid, because distributor 20th Century Fox has done practically no marketing. They know, as does everyone else, that the weekend after Thanksgiving is traditionally one of the slowest of the year, and they're playing it safe. The top five will probably be the exact same as last weekend's top five (Mockingjay, Penguins of Madagascar, Big Hero 6, Interstellar, Horrible Bosses 2), just with decreased earnings all around. Predictions are that The Pyramid, opening in 589 theaters, will earn less than $5 million.

For limited releases, the critically well-received Wild, starring Reese Witherspoon as a woman who hikes across the Pacific Crest Trail, is opening in 21 theaters. It's directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, whose Dallas Buyers Club garnered an Oscar for Matthew McConaughey last year. The man works fast.

Among the films getting smaller releases, mostly in New York and/or Los Angeles only, are Tayla Lavie's Israeli military comedy Zero Motivation, which was rightly named Best Narrative Feature at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival; Comet, a romantic comedy/drama with a sci-fi twist (parallel universes!); Pioneer, a thriller about deep-sea diving from the director of Insomnia (no, not the Nolan remake, the original); Susanna Fogel's feisty and fresh female friendship film Life Partners; She's Beautiful When She's Angry, Mary Dore's documentary about the women's rights  movement of the '60s and '70s; and the Nicolas Cage CIA thriller Dying of the Light, which was the subject of some behind-the-scenes drama.