There's no stopping The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 from breaking the box office.

The third installment of the mega hit franchise has eventually debuted to seemingly unbeatable performance and prospects are up that the third film series could match the US$158.2 million that The Hunger Games: Catching Fire made on its debut week.

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But when it beat the previous installment's record or not, one thing is for sure: Mockingjay - Part 1 is slated to become this year's top grossing film for an opening week, with high hopes of beating this year's current record-holder is Transformers: Age of Extinction, which earned US$100 million.

Tracking services, meanwhile, have earlier pegged preliminary opening figures at US$130 million, but that could still definitely change.

Forbes' Scott Mendelson predicted that The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part I could make the Hunger Games franchise to the first movie with three consecutive entries to hit north of US$150 million. So far, it's already the second franchise with US$150 million debut.

The first is the Dark Knight film series, with Dark Knight earning US$158 million and The Dark Knight Rises at US$174 million.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part I is directed by Francis Lawrence. Jennifer Lawrence reprises her role as the film's heroine, Katniss Everdeen. Franchise regulars, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci and Donald Sutherland also come back to play their roles. The late Philip Seymour Hoffman also makes his finally bow on screen. Four-time Oscar nominee Julianne Moore is also featured in the third installment.

The Hunger Games first hit cinemas in 2012 with US$152.5 million in domestic sales, but a whopping US$691.2 million in gross international sales. Its second installment, Catching Fire, earned US$864.6 million worldwide.

Tagshunger games mockingjay part 1, Katniss, hunger games franchise, Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, francis lawrence, julianne moore, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Philip Seymour Hoffman