Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 smashes box office records in UK and US

Jennifer Lawrence's new film has scored the highest opening of 2014 so far

Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (Rex Features)

Katniss Everdeen has been busy breaking box office records this weekend, with Mockingjay Part 1 scoring the highest opening of 2014 so far.

The third Hunger Games instalment took more than £12.6 million in the UK after hitting cinemas last Thursday, narrowly beating The Inbetweeners 2, which made £12.5 million in August.

Mockingjay Part 1 has proven so popular that it accounted for two of every three cinema tickets sold over the weekend. Its opening success is a four per cent increase on last year’s Catching Fire, and marks a new record for Lionsgate.

In the US this weekend, the movie grossed a massive $123 million but this is still significantly down on the $150 million plus openings of Catching Fire and 2012’s The Hunger Games.

Nevertheless, Mockingjay Part 1 achieved the biggest opening of 2014 state-side, too.

Directed by Francis Lawrence, Mockingjay Part 1 finds Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) in District 13 after she literally shatters the games forever.

“Under the leadership of President Coin (Julianne Moore) and the advice of her trusted friends, Katniss spreads her wings as she fights to save Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and a nation moved by her courage,” the official synopsis reads.

The hit film franchise is based on Suzanne Collins’ bestselling dystopian novel series that has sold more than 65 million copies in the US alone. The final movie, Mockingjay Part 2, will be released in November 2015.