Moviegoers
poured into North American multiplexes for the hotly anticipated
futuristic saga The Hunger Games which obliterated the competition with a
jaw-dropping $155M opening weekend shattering records in the process.
The PG-13 pic based on the wildly popular young adult novel about a
future where teenagers are forced by a totalitarian government to
compete in a fight to the death generated the third biggest opening
weekend of all-time and the best ever for both a non-sequel and for a
non-summer release. The only two bigger debuts were last summer's Harry
Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 with $169.2M including 3D
surcharges and 2008's The Dark Knight with $158.4M. Both of those were
released by Warner Bros. on the same mid-July weekend when all students
were out of school. Landing in 4,137 theaters, Games averaged a
scorching $37,467 per theater and was helped by 268 higher-priced IMAX
venues.
