LOS ANGELES, USA (AP) — After three weeks of box office dominance, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1 ceded its reign to Exodus: Gods and Kings. The biblical epic easily ruled the weekend with a US$24.5 million debut, according to box office tracker Rentrak’s Sunday estimates, while The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies dominated international charts with a staggering $117.6 million from 38 territories in advance of its North America release this week.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, down 40 per cent from last weekend, came in a distant second, earning US$13.2 million.

With an expensive US$140 million production budget, Exodus: Gods and Kings met expectations in its first weekend. But it failed to live up to the precedent set by some recent biblically themed films, including Noah, which opened to US$43.7 million in March.

“I think Hollywood is learning that putting epic, biblical stories on the big screen comes at a pretty heavy price. It’s not easy to do this,” said Rentrak senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian.

Fox’s domestic distribution chief Chris Aronson said he is happy about the performance of his studio’s film.

“We’re feeling great,” Aronson said. “We came in right where our expectations were.”

According to the studio, opening weekend crowds for the film were divided fairly evenly down gender lines, but they skewed older with 65 per cent over the age of 25.