'The Hunger Games' Weekend Box Office: $155 Million

Posted: 03/25/2012 12:23 pm Updated: 03/25/2012 5:17 pm

Hunger Games Box Office

Sorry, Bella. When it comes to box-office odds, Katniss Everdeen had everything in her favor. "The Hunger Games" scored $155 million in North American ticket sales this weekend, the third highest opening weekend of all time, according to estimates from Lionsgate.

Only "The Dark Knight" ($158.4 million) and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" ($169.1 million) have had stronger opening weekend showings, giving "The Hunger Games" the highest non-sequel weekend premiere ever. The $155 million bounty also outranked every entry in the "Twilight" series, including the franchise's biggest opener, "New Moon," which started with $142.8 million when it bowed in November of 2009.

"The Hunger Games" had opened strong on Friday, notching $68.5 million in ticket sales, as fans lined up for midnight screenings and packed theaters around the country.

About a government-sponsored reality show-like tournament, where 24 children -- aged 12-18 -- fight to the death, "The Hunger Games" stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth. It was based on of first book of Suzanne Collins's best-selling young-adult trilogy. "Catching Fire," the second film in the planned trilogy, arrives in theaters in November of 2013.

"The Hunger Games" added an additional $59.25 million in gross international ticket sales.

"HUNGER GAMES" REVIEWS

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Sorry, Bella. When it comes to box-office odds, Katniss Everdeen had everything in her favor. "The Hunger Games" scored $155 million in North American ticket sales this weekend, the third highest open...
Sorry, Bella. When it comes to box-office odds, Katniss Everdeen had everything in her favor. "The Hunger Games" scored $155 million in North American ticket sales this weekend, the third highest open...
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
jeanrenoir
11:30 PM on 03/26/2012
Will reality mirror junk "art" with The Hunger Games phenomenon? Will the book and the movie be treated as pure "entertainment," especially by the white, low-information voters who form the backbone of today's Republican Party, or will readers and viewers experience The Hunger Games as the Steinbeck-like call for CLASS WARFARE by the "miners" against the Kochs and Murdoch and Fox, and their media control of the masses, it so obviously seems to be? If the dumb masses just treat it all as "entertainment" they will be just like the callous "circus mob" The Hunger Games seem to be attacking right along with the dictator who so easily manipulates the dummies with the "fun" of watching blood sports in the first place. Let's hope at least a few of our "miners" are intelligent enough to be stirred to class warfare revolt against their manipulation by American fascist TV. In which case, they'd rush to vote Dem, needless to say, just as they grandparent lower-class whites did during the Depression, when "miners" were actually smart enough to vote for their class and against their oppressors, instead of being Joe the Plumber stooges for the superrich, the way most of our lower-class "miners" see to be today.
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05:16 PM on 03/26/2012
Woody Herison played the part of the mentor for Distirct 12 to the hilt. He was awsome, he played the part exactly like in the book. He needs to get an award, big time.
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05:11 PM on 03/26/2012
The movie was great considering the minor changes between book and movie. The only thing is that I was disappointed with the actor that played Zinna, he was not even close to the chacator I picured in my mind when I read the book, and my friends felt the same way. I did not expect for him to play the part more like a pimp than a frambouyant flaming afeminate characator.
04:18 PM on 03/26/2012
Watch This Movie online FREE at http://MOVIES27.com ***************************************************************
11:38 PM on 03/25/2012
Wow shattered even the 140 prediction, they must be having some district wine to celebrate http://grapefriend.com/2012/03/22/the-thirst-games/
03:18 PM on 03/25/2012
I REALLY loved the Hunger Games!!!! It was def. worth waiting up 'til midnight to see! ;D
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jeanrenoir
11:38 PM on 03/26/2012
But does the movie radicalize you POLITICALLY, KatydoubleC15, or was the movie "just entertainment" for you, as all the blood and guts was for the TV viewers of "the hunger games" themselves, munching their popcorn lazily as people were having their throats cut in 3-D HiDef right before their very eyes? How can anyone see The Hunger Games and not come out a leftwing Democrat?
11:57 AM on 03/27/2012
wow you take things way to seriously.....It's called entertainment for a reason. Also the movie isn't in 3-D. The book is by far better than the book but its for a good read, not a political statement....