"The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" easily surpassed any box office expectations with an enormous global haul in its debut weekend, earning $161.1 million domestically. The sequel was one of the most anticipated films of 2013 and should easily surpass the first film's box office total by the end of its theatrical run.
"The Hunger Games," released in 2012, was a box office success, earning $691.2 million globally, $408 million domestically and $283.2 million foreign, and earned $152.5 million in its debut, reports Box Office Mojo. The adaptation of the first novel of Suzanne Collins' series had a built-in audience and "Catching Fire" built off the success of the first film, and the increased popularity of Jennifer Lawrence, to become an even bigger pop culture phenomenon. A "Sesame Street" parody as well as "Saturday Night Live" hosting gig for Josh Hutcherson were just a few "Catching Fire" related events.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the $161.1 million earned by "Catching Fire" is the biggest November opening ever and the fourth biggest opening of all time. "The Avengers" has the biggest opening ever with $207.4 million followed by "Iron Man 3" with $171.4 million and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" with $169.2 million. Adding to "Catching Fire's" success is the massive overseas response, with THR reporting the sequel doing twice the business as the first film in some foreign markets. The movie debuted in Brazil last week and 64 countries this week and has earned $146.6 million overseas to date, for a global total of $307.7 million.
"Catching Fire" played well with audiences, earning an "A" rating with CinemaScore, and played to a much wider audience that included a 12 percent increase in male attendance, reports THR. With the success in its debut, "Catching Fire" is expected to outperform "The Hunger Games" even with a bigger estimated budget than the first film, a reported $130 million compared to $78 million.
The reigning box office champ, "Thor: The Dark World," slipped to second place, earning $14.1 million in its third week in theaters. To date, "Thor 2" has already surpassed "Thor's" entire theatrical run, earning $167.8 million domestically and $381 million overseas for a worldwide total of $548.8 million. In 2011, "Thor" earned $449.3 million worldwide in its theatrical run.
"The Best Man Holiday" continued to perform well, dropping to third place, earning $12.5 million. The week's only other wide release, "Delivery Man," finished in fourth place. The film starring Vince Vaughn was expected to earn around $13 million by Box Office Mojo but failed to earn that much, earning just $8.2 million in its debut. The top five was rounded out by "Free Birds," which earned $5.3 million in its fourth week.
The Thanksgiving box office could be interesting as "Catching Fire" faces some competition from Disney's "Frozen." With no family films released in the last few weeks, save for "Free Birds," the animated film could be a big hit with families.
'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' Scores Biggest November Opening Ever With $161.1M Debut
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