Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games banked a major $155 million this weekend, making this the biggest success ever for the independent film company. The film was projected to be number one in every market globally. In North America the movie began with $68 million on Friday, then $51 million on Saturday, and finishing off Sunday with a decent $36 million.
This makes The Hunger Games the 3rd highest grossing three-day weekend opening in history, following The Dark Knight ($158 million) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows.
The Hunger Games records include: highest non-sequel of all times, highest March opening in history, highest one-day gross for a non sequel, and highest opening of all times for a non Summer blockbuster season. The film beat out mega popular Twilight Saga New Moon and Breaking Dawn.
Internationally the film raked in another $59 million in 67 markets where it was number one in every country making this movie the biggest hit in Lionsgate’s history.
Coming 2nd in the box office was Sony’s action-comedy 21 Jump Street, starring duo Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum, which fell to second place with an estimated $21.3 million, down 41% from its opening weekend.
In third place is Universal Pictures’ The Lorax, which continues to do well, making $13.1 million, also down 42%, totaling $177.3 million after four weeks in theaters.
Check below for the complete list of movies in this week’s box office report.
Weekend Box Office
March 23, 2012 – March 25, 2012
| Title | Studio | Weekend | Theaters | Total | Week | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Hunger Games | Lionsgate |
$155,000,000
|
4,137
|
$155,000,000
|
1
|
||
| 21 Jump Street | Columbia Pictures (Sony) |
$21,300,000
|
3,126
|
$71,051,000
|
2
|
||
| Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax | Universal Pictures |
$13,108,505
|
3,678
|
$177,338,500
|
4
|
||
| John Carter | Walt Disney Pictures |
$5,014,000
|
3,212
|
$62,347,400
|
3
|
||
| Act of Valor | Relativity Media |
$2,062,000
|
2,219
|
$65,941,720
|
5
|
||
| Project X | Warner Bros. Pictures |
$1,950,000
|
2,065
|
$51,752,148
|
4
|
||
| A Thousand Words | Paramount Pictures |
$1,925,000
|
1,787
|
$14,925,170
|
3
|
||
| October Baby | Samuel Goldwyn Films |
$1,718,427
|
390
|
$1,917,870
|
1
|
||
| Safe House | Universal Pictures |
$1,389,850
|
1,330
|
$122,569,160
|
7
|
||
| Journey 2: The Mysterious Island | New Line Cinema (Warner Bros. Pictures) |
$1,373,000
|
1,340
|
$97,155,000
|
7
|
||
| Casa de mi Padre | Pantelion Films |
$1,100,000
|
475
|
$3,948,250
|
2
|
||
| This Means War | 20th Century Fox |
$1,000,000
|
1,188
|
$52,284,700
|
6
|
