Box office heavyweights fight it out

The hype surrounding the release of both films has seen the share prices of leading global cinema chains rise as analysts predict they are heading for bumper revenues.

Fittingly, given the epic fights waged by their protagonists, only one can triumph. But will it be Katniss Everdeen, the heroine of Mockingjay Part 2, the final instalment of the Hunger Games series, or Princess Leia, who returns with Han Solo and Luke Skywalker in the latest Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens, who wins the battle of the global box office in the runup to Christmas?

The hype surrounding the release of both films has seen the share prices of leading global cinema chains rise as analysts predict they are heading for bumper revenues.

Advance tickets for Mockingjay, which stars Hollywood's highest-paid female star, Jennifer Lawrence, as the teenage archer and hunter turned rebel leader Everdeen, started selling online as far back as the start of October.

Given that the previous three Hunger Games films have grossed more than £1.5 billion, Lionsgate, the company behind Mockingjay, has spent heavily to ensure that few people are unaware that the final instalment of the franchise comes out in the UK on 19 November.

A poll conducted by Piedmont Media Research found that Mockingjay shades Disney's The Force Awakens as the most eagerly awaited film among cinema-goers since the company started polling five years ago.

But The Force Awakens, which comes out in the UK on 18 December, has already broken opening day advance sales records. Cinema chain Imax collected US$6.5 million from ticket sales in a day.

Many chains are screening a midnight viewing on December 17, so fans can see it as soon it is released.

Some analysts believe that The Force Awakens may become the highest-grossing film of all time, eclipsing Avatar, which banked US$2.8 billion worldwide.

But Katniss could still be victorious. The Force Awakens has failed to secure a release date for this year in China, where it is not as well known as the Hunger Games franchise, which is enjoying a surge in popularity.

Analysts suggested it was a three-horse race for box-office supremacy in the UK - the third being the latest James Bond film, Spectre.

Daniel Craig as James Bond in the upcoming Spectre, a contender in the battle for box office glory.

"I'd question whether the Hunger Games will be as big as Star Wars or Spectre at the UK box office," said Michael Oliver, analyst at Mintel market research.

David Hancock, the director of cinema at IHS Technology, said it was rare to see three massive franchise films coming out at the same time. He suggested you would have to go back to 2002, when Die Another Day was competing against the Harry Potter franchise and The Lord of the Rings, to make a similar comparison.

"Franchise films are all about getting an audience hooked," Hancock said. "That's the differences between franchises and sequels. Sequels in the 90s meant just sticking out another film with a 2 on the end - it wasn't bringing you into the whole idea of it.

"Each time, sequels went down around 10 per cent in box-office terms, so they dropped the budget 10 per cent each time and so each film got worse and you ended up with Police Academy 7.

"A franchise builds an audience. Each one is conceived as strongly as the previous one."

The march of the franchise is good news for Britain's cinemas.

Last year's highest-grossing film, The Lego Movie, took only 34 million at the box office - a figure likely to be eclipsed by each of the Bond, Hunger Games and Star Wars offerings. "If all three of those films perform as we expect them to, I can't see why you wouldn't have a record year," Hancock said.

Next year will see more battles royal between the franchise blockbusters. Prepare for another Star Wars film, Batman versus Superman: Dawn of Justice and Ghostbusters 3.

But does it seem possible that the market could become a bit too crowded? "Can you be committed to three franchises in the space of two months?" Hancock asked.

"Emotionally you can engage with Bond or the Hunger Games, but maybe you can't do both."

Big-screen battle

Star Wars: The Force Awakens
• First film in new trilogy of the epic space opera, directed by J.J. Abrams.

• New Zealand release date: December 17.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2
• Fourth and final film in the series, based on the novels of Suzanne Collins.

• New Zealand release date: November 19.

- Observer