The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is the Top Grossing Movie of 2013!

image from boxofficemojo

WOW! Who would've thought! The odds are actually in our favor!

From Variety:

Jennifer Lawrence’s “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” has eclipsed Disney/Marvel’s “Iron Man 3″ as the highest-grossing film released at the U.S. box office in 2013.

Lionsgate announced that Thursday’s estimated $493,000 gross lifted the domestic cume to date to $409.4 million in its first 49 days of release — about $400,000 ahead of “Iron Man 3.”

The studio noted that “Catching Fire” set records for the biggest November opening weekend with $158.1 million and the biggest three- and five-day Thanksgiving box office. The sequel passed the final $408 million U.S. cume for first “Hunger Games” film on Tuesday.

“Catching Fire” has also grossed $428.8 million internationally for a worldwide box office total of $838.2 million — 21% higher that the final worldwide total for the first “Hunger Games.”

“The Hunger Games franchise continues to evolve into a truly global phenomenon,” said Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer.

“The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part I” and “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2″ are in production for release on Nov. 21, 2014 and Nov. 20, 2015, respectively.

Variety

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire has reached $400 mil domestically

Today, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire passed the $400 million mark, making it the 5th fastest movie to do so.

From The Hollywood Reporter:

"Lionsgate's YA adaptation starring Jennifer Lawrence andJosh Hutcherson earned $1.7 million on Thursday night to bring its domestic cume to $400.1 million in just 42 days. The previous film in the franchise, The Hunger Games, took 80 days to reach the same milestone after opening in March 2012. 

Directed by Francis Lawrence, the sequel is the fifth fastest film ever to hit the $400 million mark, behind The Avengers (14 days),The Dark Knight (18 days), Avatar (23 days) and The Dark Knight Rises (29 days). 

Internationally, Catching Fire has earned $408 million to date for a worldwide tally of $808 million, easily surpassing the $691 million total of the previous film."

Check out the rest of the list here.

Catching Fire earns a whopping $307.7 million worldwide, $161.1 million domestically opening weekend

Good news, party people! The Hunger Games: Catching Fire has done tremendously well this opening weekend, with $307.7 million worldwide and $161.1 million domestically.

That means The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is now ranked #4 for on domestic highest grossing opening weekends of all time, just behind such huge movies as The Avengers, Iron Man 3 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. In addition, it is #1 for all time November openings.

To put this in perspective, The Hunger Games had ranked #7 for domestic opening weekend at $152.5 million. Industry specialists had predicted around $140 million, still awesome but less so than the first, so exceeding these expectations is huge. Not only that, the film did better for Saturday than Friday, which had not been the case for popular November releases like the Harry Potter and Twilight films. Let's hope this is an indication for even more success as Catching Fire continues in theaters.

Source: Variety

What's That? The Hunger Games Broke Another Record?

That's right! Check it out:

Lionsgate's film adaptation of Suzanne Collins' best-selling young-adult novel grossed $10.8 million on Monday -- the best showing ever for a Monday outside of holidays, the Christmas stretch and summer.
Hunger Games has amassed $163.4 million in only four days of play at the domestic box office, suggesting the film could easily gross $350 million or more in North America.
The pic, opening to $152.5 million during the weekend, shattered a number of records in scoring the third-highest debut of all time behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 ($169.2 million) and The Dark Knight ($158.4 million), as well as the top opening outside of summer and the top opening for a nonsequel.

Source: THR

Fandango: 17 Hunger Games Tickets Sold Per Second!

FANDANGO SMASHES RECORDS BY SELLING 22% OF OPENING WEEKEND BOX OFFICE FOR

                “THE HUNGER GAMES”, LARGEST SHARE FOR ANY MOVIE IN COMPANY HISTORY

Fandango Sells 17 “Hunger” Tickets per Second on Opening Day, Shattering Single Day Record and Top Mobile Weekend Record

(LOS ANGELES, CA - March 26, 2012) -- Fandango, the nation's leading moviegoer destination, announced today that it sold 22% of opening weekend ticket sales for “The Hunger Games”, marking the largest share of sales for any movie in Fandango’s nearly 12-year history. During the weekend’s peak ticket-selling periods, Fandango was selling 17 tickets per second, representing the company’s top franchise opener, best-selling March release, top-selling mobile weekend and Fandango’s top-selling single day (March 23, 2012) for a movie, besting “The Dark Knight” opening day on July 18, 2008.

Fandango's share of all domestic ticket sales for “The Hunger Games” – which took in a projected domestic box office of $155 million* - reshapes Fandango’s list of top 5 shares of opening weekends. The new record-breaker list is as follows:

1."The Hunger Games” (2012) – 22%

2. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2" (2011) - 19%

3. “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” (2009) – 18%

4. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1” (2010) - 17%

5. “Sex and the City” (2008) - 16%

Fandango also broke a record with “Hunger” as the movie with the most tickets ever sold on opening weekend via mobile on Fandango; the previous record-holder was “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2.”  Friday, March 23 was also the top day for mobile ticket sales in Fandango history.

"Fandango’s record- breaking percentage of the film’s opening weekend is a testament to the growing popularity of online and mobile ticketing as the way to go to the movies,” says Fandango Executive Vice President and General Manager Rick Butler. “It’s rare to see the first film in a franchise performing like an established sequel, but ‘The Hunger Games’ is a true phenomenon. Fans have given it our highest ‘Must Go!” rating, with Web and mobile ticket sales still going strong on Monday.”

According to a Fandango online survey of thousands of moviegoers, 62% of “Hunger Games” fans plan to see the movie more than once in the theater, indicating repeat viewings throughout the week. As of Monday, the film still accounts for 87% of all daily tickets sold on Fandango.

*Estimated box office info from Boxoffice.com