Hunger Games, which will open in three weeks on March 23rd, is looking like a massive hit, according to Hollywood trades reporting on the initial tracking numbers for the film.  This isn’t particularly a surprise, since advance ticket sales have been breaking records (see “Hunger Games Breaking Records”), but the scale of the film’s likely opening is bigger than some might have expected. 

Deadline quotes studio execs predicting an opening bigger than the first Twilight movie ($70 million); Hollywood Reporter says “observers” and “exhibitors” are expecting an opening that could “approach $100 million.”  Both report that the audience beyond young females (i.e., older women, males) is stronger for Hunger Games than it was for Twilight.

Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins has released a statement saying she’d seen the movie and is “really happy with how it turned out,” extolling the efforts of director Gary Ross, the cast, and the designers for the film, which will help get the millions that have read her books into theaters.

The response to the advertising and trailers (see “Hunger Games Trailer #2”) has been strong.

The big winner in stores (in addition to retailers stocking the merch, of course) will be NECA and its game division WizKids, both of which have a wide range of products based on the property.  WizKids has strategy, card, and miniature games (see “WizKids ‘Hunger Games’ Products”); parent NECA has pretty much everything, up to and including Hunger Games light bulbs (see “Toy Fair 2012 Pics”).