The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, the third film in the dystopian action series starring Jennifer Lawrence, collected $56.9 million to hold off advances by animated films Penguins of Madagascar and Big Hero 6 and claim victory at the US holiday weekend box office.

Penguins of Madagascar, the fourth in the series of Madagascar films, waddled into second place on its opening weekend with $25.8 million at US and Canadian theatres for the three days ending on Sunday, according to tracking firm Rentrak.

Walt Disney’s Big Hero 6, the box office champion three weeks ago, was third with $18.8 million in ticket sales. The film has generated $167 million since its November 7 release.

Mockingjay, which stars Lawrence as young archer Katniss Everdeen who leads a rebellion, recorded $82.7 million over the five-day Thanksgiving Day weekend and has generated more than $225 million since opening on November 21, according to Rentrak.

The film, which scored the third-highest total ever for a five-day Thanksgiving weekend, has raked in $254 million outside the US and Canada, for a global take of $480 million.

Penguins added another $36 million from overseas box offices for a global total of $72 million, according to distributor 20th Century Fox. The family film saw 58 per cent of its audience under age 25 amid what the studio called a soft Thanksgiving marketplace overall.

Rounding out the weekend’s top five, director Christopher Nolan’s space adventure Interstellar starring Matthew McConaughey took in $15.8 million boosted by premium-priced Imax screenings, while the new Jason Bateman-Jennifer Aniston film Horrible Bosses 2 was fifth with $15.7 million.