The final instalment in blockbuster sci-fi saga The Hunger Games has moved ahead of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in the consciousness of cinemagoers, according to new research published by Variety.
US firm Piedmont Media Research found that The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, which debuts in North America on 20 November, scored the highest level of anticipation ever recorded, a rating of 514 out of 1000. The Force Awakens, which is among the most-hyped films of all time, got 495 - though that figure is still the third-highest rating the company has ever recorded. Last year’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, which went on to score $1.4bn at the global box office, previously held the research firm’s record figure with 509.
The Force Awakens has been the bookies’ favourite to be 2015’s highest-grossing film since the first trailer for JJ Abrams’ space-opera reboot was released in November, so it would be surprising if Mockingjay – Part 2 did better at the box office.
Piedmont’s research, which was conducted among 3,000 filmgoers and weighted to the demographics of the cinemagoing public, is not the same as the Hollywood tracking system, which delivers predictions of box-office success. Nevertheless, the merits of film-industry oracles have been called into question in recent months after a series of movies that were predicted to do well at the US box office this summer performed more weakly than expected.
Piedmont’s next most-anticipated films of 2015 are the spooky animated sequel Hotel Transylvania 2, with a rating of 313, and the new Bond adventure Spectre, with 282. Of the big-budget films set to debut in cinemas before the end of the year, Ridley Scott space drama The Martian scores fairly well, with 255, while the $150m Joe Wright fantasy epic Pan looks like it may struggle, with just 205.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens debuts in the US on 18 December, a day after its UK release. Experts have already predicted the film will open to a world record $615m (£398m) global opening over its first weekend.
