Not surprisingly, The Hunger Games won the box office over the weekend. Surprisingly, it opened bigger than any of the Twilight movies, and had the third highest opening weekend ever, behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and The Dark Knight. It became Lionsgate’s highest-grossing movie ever in just two days. You know who I bet will happy about that? FUTUREBEARD.
Among all the impressive Hunger Games statistics, two lesser-discussed ones are worth highlighting. First, the movie had an incredible hold on Saturday—it only fell 25 percent to $51 million, which ranks second all-time behind Spider-Man 3 ($51.3 million). This suggests that demand for The Hunger Games exists across a wide array of moviegoers, and isn’t just rooted in the type of rabid fans that drove the front-loaded openings for recent Harry Potter and Twilight movies. [BoxOfficeMojo]
Yay, so good job Hunger Games! That’s great! I mean, except for the part where it was kind of a mediocre pastiche of previous movies cynically created to cash in on the Twilight craze, filmed in obnoxious shaky cam. But at least a Mormon didn’t write it, right? Yuck! In any case, they should have more than enough money to buy a goddamned tripod before they make the next one.
It was also a great weekend for hunger puns, as you can imagine.
“Huge appetite for Hunger Games breaks box office records!” –Chicago Sun-Times
“Hunger Games gorges on $214 million global debut!” –Reuters
“Appetite for The Hunger Games is ravenous!” –Hollywood.com
“The Hunger Games devours all!” –LA Times
“The Hunger Games chews up the box office!” –SkyNews
“Hunger Games devours the competition!” –News10
“Hunger Games eats up the competition with $155 million opening!” –Oshkosh Northwestern
“The Hunger Games bites off a staggering $155 million at the box office!” –HDRoom
“Commentary: Box office shows audiences hungry for Hunger Games!” –OSU Lantern
“The Hunger Games fulfills box office appetites.” –ComingSoon.net
1. “The Hunger Games,” $155 million ($59.3 million international).
2. “21 Jump Street,” $21.3 million ($5.3 million international).
3. “Dr. Seuss’ the Lorax,” $13.1 million ($5.5 million international).
4. “John Carter,” $5 million ($22.2 million international).
5. “Act of Valor,” $2.1 million.
6. “Project X,” $2 million ($4.4 million international).
7. “A Thousand Words,” $1.9 million.
8. “October Baby,” $1.7 million.
9. “Safe House,” $1.39 million ($2.3 million international).
10. “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island,” $1.37 million.
[via HuffPo]