To date the final chapter in the saga has taken nearly $330 million at the global box office.
Even so, Mockingjay Part 2 hasn't quite earned as much as any of the previous films in the saga. That title still goes to the second film Catching Fire, while the entire series is approaching $3 billion globally.

Jennifer Lawrence, Elizabeth Banks and Woody Harrelson in Mockingjay Pt. 2Jennifer Lawrence, Elizabeth Banks and Woody Harrelson in Mockingjay Pt. 2

And of course Mockingjay Part 2's triumph will come to a halt with the arrival of Star Wars: The Force Awakens this weekend. The sci-fi adventure has taken more than $100 million in advance box office alone, and is already crushing opening weekend records. Intriguingly, analysts say that when adjusted for inflation The Force Awakens doesn't have a chance of equalling the 1977 original film's box office impact. The Force Awakens "gets to $1 billion without breaking a sweat," notes Rentrak expert Paul Dergarabedian, but the film will have to strike a chord to hit $3 billion.

Star Wars: A New Hope was one of the first giant blockbusters in cinema history, earning $512 million at a time when tickets cost an average of just $2.23. Which means that in today's dollars it made more than $2.4 billion on a budget of just $11 million. By contrast, The Force Awakens had a production budget of about $200 million, which it will recoup in just a few days. But the distance to equal 1977's ticket numbers is far greater.

That said, most of the money Star Wars movies earn comes from merchandising: toys, clothing, collectibles and videogames. And of course these marketing tie-ins are much more sophisticated and prolific today than they were in 1977. The estimate for The Force Awakens alone is around £5 billion. And there's another Star Wars movie coming out next year.

Watch the trailer for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 here: