Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games easily topped the box office for the third week in a row with an estimated $33.5 million, down just 42.8% from its second frame.  Universal’s warmed over slice of American Pie, the “R” rated comedy American Reunion came in second with an estimated $21.5 million, the worst debut in franchise history (at least adjusted for inflation), while the 3-D release of James Cameron’s Titanic was a solid #3 with $17.3 million.  Overall the total of the top 12 was up 12% from the 14th weekend of 2011 when Hop topped the box office for a second weekend in a row.

 

The Hunger Games soared past the $300 million mark in just 17 days and with little strong competition debuting in the next few weeks, it could well get close to the $400 million mark before it’s through.  The adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ YA novel was the sixth fastest film to ever make it past $300 million.  As for its YA competitor Twilight, only one Twilight film ever made it past $300 million domestically, and it took Twilight Saga: Eclipse 81 days to accomplish that.  As ICv2 pointed out during The Hunger Games debut weekend, the adaptation of the first book in Suzanne Collins’s YA series was able to attract a much wider demographic than the Twilight movies, which did roughly as well with female viewers as The Hunger Games, but were far less effective with the other audience quadrants.

 

Weekend Box Office (Studio Estimates): April 6 - 8, 2012
	Film	Weekend Gross	Screens	Avg./ Screen	Total Gross	Wk#
1	The Hunger Games	$33,500,000	4,137	$8,098	$302,839,000	3
2	American Reunion	$21,500,000	3,192	$6,736	$21,500,000	1
3	Titanic 3D	$17,350,000	2,674	$6,488	$25,710,000	1
4	Wrath of the Titans	$15,010,000	3,545	$4,234	$58,899,000	2
5	Mirror Mirror	$11,000,000	3,618	$3,040	$36,473,000	2
6	21 Jump Street	$10,200,000	3,009	$3,390	$109,577,000	4
7	Dr. Seuss' The Lorax	$5,000,000	3,003	$1,665	$198,200,000	6
8	Salmon Fishing in the Yemen	$975,000	524	$1,861	$4,639,000	5
9	John Carter	$820,000	1,015	$808	$67,973,000	5
10	Safe House	$581,000	482	$1,205	$124,751,000	9

 

American Reunion was supposed to give The Hunger Games serious competition for the top spot.  The past three American Pie films had all averaged $32.4 million debuts, but the fourth movie in the series has only managed to earn a 44% positive rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.  As might be expected from a new film from a long dormant franchise, American Reunion attracted an older audience, 61% of whom were 25 or older, and they gave the film an OK, but not stellar, CinemaScore of “B+.” Interestingly enough the audience for the “R” rated American Reunion was nearly equally divided among the sexes (just 51%) male, demonstrating that both genders appear to like raunchy comedies.

 

As might be expected women did form the majority of the audience (60%) for James Cameron’s epic romance Titanic 3D, which earned $17.4 million over the weekend and $25.5 million through its first five days.  While its debut did trail those of other recently converted classics like The Lion King and Star Wars: Episode 1, the original Titanic had some of the best “legs” in movie history, so don’t be surprised if Titantic 3D, which cost a reported $18 million to convert, eventually outdoes its reconfigured classic competitors.

 

Wrath of the Titans fell 55% in its second frame, but managed to earn an estimated $15 million, which was good enough for fourth place.  The $150 million dollar green screen epic is doing better overseas where it has earned $76 million versus $59 million here, but it still appears unlikely that it will be able to earn back its $150 million cost.  With Wrath’s 10-day domestic total of just under $59 million well short of its predecessor’s $110.2 million, the future of this special effects-heavy franchise is in serious doubt.

 

The rest of the top ten, with the exception of John Carter, suffered modest drops.  Mirror, Mirror, Relativity Media’s live-action comedic take on the Snow White saga was off just 39% in its sophomore frame, while the “R” rated comedy 21 Jump Street slipped just 31%, and The Lorax slid only 36%, and the quirky comedy Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, which is only in 524 theaters, dropped just 23.4%.

 

On the other hand Disney’s John Carter lost over half of its locations and dropped nearly 60% as it pulled in less than $1 million in its fifth frame.  The $250 million + behemoth looks like it will finish its domestic run under $70 million, and while it is doing better overseas, where it has earned $195 million, it appear that it will finish with a worldwide total that is well shy of $300 million, which means that Disney’s “write-off” of $200 million may actually be conservative.  However it must also be said that the film has developed a loyal following that is willing to defend it vociferously online, which could bode well for its performance on DVD.  It is important to remember that, as critics constantly reiterate, box office success does not always correlate with the quality of a film.  Lots of movies that are considered classics now like It’s a Wonderful Life and The Lady From Shanghai were abject box office failures when they debuted.  The poor box office performance of John Carter may mean that there won’t be any pricy sequels anytime soon, but it doesn’t mean that it’s a bad film, or that it might not be an influential movie in ways that are not immediately apparent at this time.

 

Stop back here next week to see if either the Farrelly Bros. attempt to immortalize The Three Stooges or the oft-delayed Joss Whedon-penned high concept horror movie The Cabin in the Woods can unseat The Hunger Games.