The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 finally arrived in theaters for early Thursday screenings last night, giving the sagging box office a much-needed boost, bringing in $17 million. While that is the highest tally for a Thursday night preview all year, breaking Guardians of the Galaxy's $11.2 million haul, it is still the lowest tally for The Hunger Games franchise to date.

The Hunger Games took in $19.7 million in early Thursday previews back in 2012, while The Hunger Games: Catching Fire earned $25.2 million during Thursday screenings last year. However, it did break a social media record, with RelishMix revealing the sequel tallied 602 million clicks on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, outdoing both The Hunger Games (375 million clicks) and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (500 million clicks).

Box office pundits estimate that The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 will bring in at least $140 million over the three-day opening weekend, which is more than enough to secure the biggest opening weekend of 2014, eclipsing Transformers: Age of Extinction's $100 million gross back in June. Guardians of the Galaxy remains the highest-grossing movie of the year with $330.4 million, but if The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 opens big, it could easily eclipse that mark in just a few weeks.

International numbers have not been made available yet, but Deadline reports that international Thursday totals were an estimated 5% higher than The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

How much do you think The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 will take home this weekend? Chime in with your thoughts below.