Jennifer Lawrence is here to fight in Hunger Games: Mockingjay

Jennifer Lawrence is already the only girl with anything important to do in X-Men: Days of Future Past, the 2nd most successful movie of 2014 so far ($739 million worldwide). A mere 6 months later, she’ll be back as “Our Leader Mockingjay” — here to fight, not talk, in the first half of the third part of The Hunger Games saga that has already earned over $1.5 billion worldwide.

While we’re talking big money, it’s worth noting that Disney’s Maleficent is within spitting distance of overtaking X-Men: Days of Future Past as the year’s #2 movie at the box-office. As of this weekend, Maleficent stands at $715 million worldwide. Plus, in light of Lucy landing at #1 this weekend, let’s not forget that Scarlett Johansson’s other little movie, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, has earned $713 million.

If you think these box-office numbers are off-topic then I forgot to name this morning’s hot topic: Movies with important female leads are killing it at the box-office this summer. Notably. Undeniably. Admirably.

Does that help make it a little easier to stomach spinoffs, franchises and sequels? Or are all the flashy action movies being made for fun-loving audiences still the horrendous antithesis of progress in Hollywood?

(Sorry. I’m still aggravated over a clash I had on twitter this weekend trying to calm the smug hysteria from people like Jeff Wells crying, “Why oh why are audiences buying tickets to fun movies?!” or “Why can’t 12 Years a Slave earn a billion dollars?!” Or something. I honestly can’t figure out what some of them are moaning about. I’ll have more to say about that later.)

Meanwhile, all hail the Hollywood spinoffs, franchises and sequels! so long as they feature a girl, I guess. No, I really mean it.

Also, congrats to all the other sequels and franchise effects films this year that have been far better than most of the top ten movies from most any year of the past 3 decades. Personally, I think it’s been a fantastic summer so far. And who knows, maybe the best is yet to come. So I wish the hand-wringers would stop whining about it.

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The worldwide phenomenon of The Hunger Games continues to set the world on fire with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, which finds Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) in District 13 after she literally shatters the games forever. Under the leadership of President Coin (Julianne Moore) and the advice of her trusted friends, Katniss spreads her wings as she fights to save Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and a nation moved by her courage. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 is directed by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay by Danny Strong and Peter Craig and produced by Nina Jacobson’s Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik. The novel on which the film is based is the third in a trilogy written by Suzanne Collins that has over 65 million copies in print in the U.S. alone.