The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 tops US box office with $123 million

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 has topped the US box office with $123 million, a significant drop from last year’s installment, Catching Fire, which took $152 million on its debut.

The movie adaptations of The Hunger Games, based on the best-selling teen books by Suzanne Collins, have taken more than $1.5 billion at the worldwide box office.

In the North American box office rundown, Walt Disney’s animated action film Big Hero 6 was in second place this weekend, with ticket sales of $20.1 million.

Space adventure Interstellar, which has taken $121 million since its release at the beginning of November, took $15 million this weekend and was at number three.

Former number ones, comedy Dumb and Dumber To and thriller Gone Girl, rounded out the top five.

Lionsgate, which has split the final Hunger Games book into two parts, will release the final installment in 2015.