Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Second movie in Hunger Games series sets fire to the box office by ...




17 December 2013 Last Updated on 17 December 2013 Written by admin




By

Daily Mail Reporter and Reuters




PUBLISHED:


16:23 EST, 24 November 2013




|



UPDATED:


16:23 EST, 24 November 2013


The Hunger Games: Catching Fire blazed straight to the top of weekend movie charts, setting a U.S. and Canadian record for November ticket sales and hauling in $307.7 million around the world.


Fans poured into theaters for the second installment in the series starring Jennifer Lawrence as scrappy heroine Katniss Everdeen, the skilled archer who becomes a beacon of hope for the oppressed residents of the fictional nation of Panem.


Catching Fire collected an estimated $161.1 million from Thursday night through Sunday in the United States and Canada, a record domestic debut for the month of November.


Stars: Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark, left, and Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen in a scene from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. The movie set a U.S. and Canadian record for November ticket sales in its first weekend


Stars: Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark, left, and Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen in a scene from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. The movie set a U.S. and Canadian record for November ticket sales in its first weekend


It topped the $152.5 million opening for ‘Hunger Games’ in March 2012 that established the series as a blockbuster franchise.


The

new film scored 2013′s second-biggest debut, behind the May opening for

superhero sequel Iron Man 3 of $174.1 million, and also marked the

fourth-biggest domestic film opening in history.


Playing in 65

markets around the world, Catching Fire also grabbed $146.6 million in

foreign sales through Sunday, according to distributor Lions Gate

Entertainment Corp.


Domestic IMAX screenings accounted for $12.6 million of the ticket sales, a November record opening for the big-screen format.


Publicity: Lions Gate spent about $130 million to make Catching Fire, plus about $55 million on a broadly aimed marketing campaign that included Facebook promotions, ads during NFL football games, and fashion and makeup lines


Publicity: Lions Gate spent about $130 million to make Catching Fire, plus about $55 million on a broadly aimed marketing campaign that included Facebook promotions, ads during NFL football games, and fashion and makeup lines


The

sequel also attracted a broader audience than the original Hunger

Games, Lions Gate said, with age groups over and under age 25 each

comprising half of ticket buyers and an audience 12 percent more male

than that of The Hunger Games.


The original film earned $691.2 million worldwide.


‘The strength of the Hunger Games franchise is not to be underestimated,’ said Phil Contrino, chief analyst at Boxoffice.com.


‘This

property has clearly expanded its fan base in a big way both at home

and overseas,’ Contrino noted, adding there was little doubt the new

film would shatter the first film’s global haul.


The second film

follows Katniss on a victory tour with Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson)

after their win in the annual teen death match staged by the government

to keep order.


As their heroic actions set off an underground movement

for revolution, the two are forced back to the arena to again fight for

their lives.


Popular: Fans poured into theaters for the second installment in the series starring Jennifer Lawrence as scrappy heroine Katniss Everdeen, the skilled archer who becomes a beacon of hope for the oppressed residents of the fictional nation of Panem


Popular: Fans poured into theaters for the second installment in the series starring Jennifer Lawrence (pictured) as scrappy heroine Katniss Everdeen, the skilled archer who becomes a beacon of hope for the oppressed residents of the fictional nation of Panem


Critics applauded Catching Fire, which earned an 89

percent positive rating among reviews compiled by the Rotten Tomatoes

website and praise for Lawrence, who won a best actress Oscar for last

year’s Silver Linings Playbook.


Audiences awarded an ‘A’ grade in

polling by CinemaScore, an endorsement that should help propel sales in

the coming weeks.


Lions Gate spent about $130 million to make

Catching Fire, plus about $55 million on a broadly aimed marketing

campaign that included Facebook promotions, ads during NFL football

games, and fashion and makeup lines.


The studio took steps to

increase overseas sales, which made up about 41 percent of the first

film’s grosses, a modest foreign take by blockbuster standards. Industry

analysts project bigger international sales for Catching Fire.


Jeff

Bock, senior box office analyst at Exhibitor Relations Co., said the

film is now projected to total close to $500 million overseas.


The

Hunger Games film series is based on best-selling novels by Suzanne

Collins.


Positive: Critics applauded Catching Fire, which earned an 89 percent positive rating among reviews compiled by the Rotten Tomatoes website and praise for Jennifer Lawrence


Positive: Critics applauded Catching Fire, which earned an 89 percent positive rating among reviews compiled by the Rotten Tomatoes website and praise for Jennifer Lawrence (right), who won a best actress Oscar for last year’s Silver Linings Playbook


Her third book in the trilogy will reach the big screen in two

installments – Mockingjay – Part 1 and Mockingjay – Part 2 scheduled for

release in November 2014 and November 2015.


‘It’s very possible that the next entry could hit $1 billion globally,’ Contrino said.





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jojocat,


Greensboro, United States,


2 weeks ago


Not so far-fetched to consider – that this is where our society is heading. I love these books, the movies.


Clare91,


Bolton, United Kingdom,


3 weeks ago


Saw this over the weekend and its absolutely amazing! Ive read the book but the film still managed to shock me, make me cry and burst out with laughter. Well worth a watch!


Spiffy,


Sparta, Japan,


3 weeks ago


Can’t wait to see it.


TinyTim,


Timtown Timshire – England,


3 weeks ago


Sally chalk should play the hunger games she could do with losing a few dozen pounds!


tor15565,


Guernsey,


3 weeks ago


I’ve not seen a bad word about this movie yet….so I’ll start. I’ve never been so bored in my entire life! I have no idea what you people watched but the movie went absolutely nowhere for about 2 hours and by the time it got to them actually killing each other I had lost interest. And it wasn’t just me either. I went with at least 10 people and every one of them said the same thing! How can there be such a difference between our views?!


Alyssa,


Florida, USA,


3 weeks ago


Love love love this series! I cried like seven times. I suggest everyone read the books though – really gives you a look of what government will look like if things keep on the way they are. Yes, it’s very exaggerated, but still, anything is possible.


Ira,


Cairo, Egypt,


3 weeks ago


People really have nothing else to do with themselves these days but watch movies with kids in them…. Intellect isn’t en vogue, is it?


yummyascookie,


HOBOKEN, United States,


3 weeks ago


I watched the movie last night and it was so awesome, but $ 307m is really huge amount of money ,maybe they should consider droping the price of theatre’s tickets. In the past 2 years it jumped,for the regular 2D, from $12 to 14 and now it’s pushing up to 16. it’s way too much, and the money they’re paying those actors is insane .


james,


Oxford, New Zealand,


3 weeks ago


Haven’t seen the film yet, but I will at some stage. cannot wait


shamzine,


Kuala Lumpur,


3 weeks ago


I watched it because there’s nothing else I can watch at the cinema at the time. Plus the movie sucks. Just saying.


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