Gary Ross' film adaptation of the first of Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games novels surpassed analysts' wildest expectations as it posted a gargantuan $155 million 3-day opening weekend total, the third best in history and the best ever debut for a non-sequel. The boffo smash pushed the weekend box office total up 94% from the same frame last year when Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2 topped the charts with $23.7 million.
Driven by a potent multi-media ad campaign, which managed to build a tremendous amount of interest in the film without showing any actual footage of the combat in the actual Games, The Hunger Games set a record for first day grosses by a non-sequel on Friday when it pulled in an estimated $68.25 million. The Hunger Games also set a slew of IMAX records and shattered the previous record for the best March debut, Alice in Wonderland’s $116.1 million. The new franchise also scored a bigger opening than any of the four Twilight films so far.
| Weekend Box Office (Studio Estimates): March 23 - 25, 2012 | ||||||
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| Film | Weekend Gross | Screens | Avg./ Screen | Total Gross | Wk# |
| 1 | The Hunger Games | $155,000,000 | 4,137 | $37,467 | $155,000,000 | 1 |
| 2 | 21 Jump Street | $21,300,000 | 3,121 | $6,825 | $71,051,000 | 2 |
| 3 | Dr. Seuss' The Lorax | $13,100,000 | 3,677 | $3,563 | $177,300,000 | 4 |
| 4 | John Carter | $5,014,000 | 3,212 | $1,561 | $62,347,000 | 3 |
| 5 | Act of Valor | $2,062,000 | 2,216 | $931 | $65,942,000 | 5 |
| 6 | Project X | $1,950,000 | 2,065 | $944 | $51,752,000 | 4 |
| 7 | A Thousand Words | $1,925,000 | 1,787 | $1,077 | $14,926,000 | 3 |
| 8 | October Baby | $1,718,000 | 390 | $4,405 | $1,718,000 | 1 |
| 9 | Safe House | $1,400,000 | 1,330 | $1,053 | $122,600,000 | 7 |
| 10 | Journey 2: The Mysterious Island | $1,373,000 | 1,340 | $1,025 | $97,155,000 | 7 |
The reason that The Hunger Games outperformed the Twilight films is that it attracted a wider demographic. The opening weekend audience for The Hunger Games was 61% female versus say Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn—Part I’s 80% distaff crowd. The Hunger Games also attracted older viewers--just 44% of the opening weekend crowd was under 25. It should be noted that those under 25 gave the movie a stellar “A+” rating, while the grades of those over 25 averaged out at an “A-.”
The Hunger Games’ debut ranks behind only Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2's $169.2 million, and The Dark Knight's $158.4 million. The final Harry Potter film was extremely front-loaded—its opening weekend gross represented 44.4% of its final domestic tally, whereas The Dark Knight’s total was 29.7% of its total domestic take. The top Twilight movies were even more front-loaded with debuts that equaled 48.2% (New Moon) and 49.1% (Breaking Dawn) of the total. How front-loaded will The Hunger Games be? That depends on the film's ability to keep broadening its audience base. The Hunger Games declined 25% from Friday to Saturday night, but the Potter finale plummeted 53% from its first day and Breaking Dawn—Part 1 was down 44% from Friday to Saturday.
The Hunger Games huge opening is good news for those companies with tie-in merchandise (see "WizKids' 'Hunger Games' Products"). As ICv2 (and just about everybody else) has been pointing out ad nauseum, The Hunger Games has become a real merchandising phenomenon. Since the first trailer for the movie ran last November, the number of Collins' Hunger Games novels sold has doubled. Images from the movie have graced over 50 magazine covers. Forget about the middling success of Percy Jackson or the downright failure of The Golden Compass, the successful debut of The Hunger Games franchise will send the originality-challenged executives of Hollywood scouring through the YA sections of their local bookstores searching for the next Harry Potter, Twilight, or The Hunger Games.
Last week's winner 21 Jump Street dropped just 41% and landed in second place with an estimated $21.3 million, while The Lorax also posted a similarly modest 42.5% decline and brought its soon to be surrendered year-to-date topping total to $177.3 million. But while Jump Street and The Lorax did well, The Hunger Games’ huge debut didn't leave much oxygen around for its competitors.
Disney's John Carter declined 63.1% in its third weekend as it added an estimated $5 million to bring its domestic cumulative to $62.3 million. The ERB-based space fantasy adventure film is doing quite a bit better overseas where it has earned almost three times as much ($173million). The film will likely fall well short of the $600 million it would need to recoup its cost, but it appears that overseas at least, the movie is far from an abject failure.
The only other new film opening this week was the modestly-budgeted anti-abortion movie October Baby. The movie, which was financed by faith-based groups, was shown in just 390 theaters, but managed a solid $4,405 per venue average.
The Hunger Games posted the first huge debut of 2012, a total that even The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises could have trouble besting. Stop back here next week to see how much of a decline The Hunger Games suffers. Will it be enough to allow the green screen fantasy film Wrath of the Titans to take the box office crown?
