“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” debuted at No. 1 at the box office this weekend, taking in $161.1 million domestically.
It was no surprise the much anticipated film, which stars Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen, blazed past the weekend competition, but what is shocking was just how hot the film got. It beat the original “Hunger Games,” which grossed $152.5 million in its opening weekend, and set an all-time November record.
“The Twilight Saga: New Moon” previously held the November opening mark with the $142.8 million it collected in 2009. However, not only has “Catching Fire” bested “New Moon,” it qualified as the biggest opening ever for a movie not available in 3D, at a quarter million more than the $160.9 million of “The Dark Knight Rises.”
The new film scored 2013’s second-biggest debut, behind the May opening for superhero sequel “Iron Man 3” at $174.1 million, and also marked the fourth-biggest domestic film opening in history.
“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” grossed an impressive $307.7 million worldwide this weekend after grabbing $146.6 million in overseas sales through Sunday, according to distributor Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. This tops the $152.5 million global opening for the first “Hunger Games” in March 2012.
Marvel’s two-week champion “Thor: The Dark World,” starring Chris Hemsworth, dropped to a distant second with earnings of $14.1 million.
In third place, romantic comedy “The Best Man Holiday” earned a respectable $12.5 million. The sequel reunites stars Taye Diggs, Terence Howard, Morris Chestnut, Regina Hall, Sanaa Lathan, Nia Long, and others for some Christmas love drama.
The new Vince Vaughn comedy, “Delivery Man,” finished in fourth place with $8.2 million. Vaughn plays a sperm donor who discovers he has fathered more than 500 children.
Animated movie “Free Birds,” about a pair of time-traveling turkeys, rounds off the top 5 with $5.3 million.
Here are the box office results for the top 10 films.
1) The Hunger Games: Catching Fire LGF $161,125,000
2) Thor: The Dark World BV $14,117,000 Total: $167,837,000
3) The Best Man Holiday Uni. $12,522,000 Total: $50,391,000
4) Delivery Man BV $8,215,000
5) Free Birds Rela. $5,300,000 Total: $48,594,000
6) Last Vegas CBS $4,400,000 Total: $53,926,000
7) Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa Par. $3,450,000 Total: $95,451,000
8) Gravity WB $3,305,000 Total: $245,503,000
9) 12 Years a Slave FoxS $2,800,000 Total: $29,393,000
10) Dallas Buyers Club Focus $2,770,000 Total: $6,450,000
