Opens With $161M Domestic Weekend Tally
By Jake Coyle, Film Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --Moviegoers satiated their appetite for the "Hunger Games" franchise by making the sequel "Catching Fire" one of the year's biggest hits.
"The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" opened with $161.1 million at the domestic weekend box office, according to studio estimates Sunday.
It became the biggest November debut ever, as well as Lionsgate's most lucrative opening.
The result fell short of some expectations and failed to dethrone the year's biggest box-office opening, "Iron Man 3" with $174 million. But the film opened massively worldwide, taking in a total of $307.7 million.
The marketplace largely ceded the weekend to "Catching Fire." The only other new wide release was Disney's Vince Vaughn comedy "Delivery Man," which sputtered to an $8.2 million opening.
The box-office performance for "Catching Fire" establishes "Hunger Games," starring Jennifer Lawrence as the archer heroine of Suzanne Collins' young adult series, as among the elite franchises in movies. The budget nearly doubled from the original and Francis Lawrence took over directing duties from Gary Ross. "Catching Fire" received better reviews and drew a broader audience.
"When the first film was released, there was this idea that it was going to appeal largely to young girls," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for box-office tracker Rentrak. "But over time, it's skewing back toward male audiences. There's actually a lot of action, there's violence in the movie. It's crossing over to a much broader base."
The domestic opening for "Catching Fire" is the fourth best ever, following "The Avengers ($207 million), "Iron Man 3" and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II" ($169 million).
Record keeping, though, has become more complicated in recent years at the box office. Higher-priced 3-D or IMAX screenings can boost revenue, as can early screenings. "Catching Fire," which earned 8 percent of its gross from IMAX showings, counted $25 million from Thursday night screenings among its weekend total.
The original "Hunger Games" earned $152.5 million in its opening weekend in March 2012, but didn't debut until midnight screenings Thursday.
"It's really become a phenomenon," said David Spitz, head of distribution for Lionsgate. "We've established now a better opening than the first, and now we're entering into the Thanksgiving and Christmas period, which is very, very lucrative."
After two weeks atop the box office, "Thor: The Dark World," released by Disney, slid to second with $14.1 million. After an impressive opening, the romantic comedy "The Best Man Holiday" added $12.5 million for a two-week total of $50.4 million.
Overseas, the critical and box-office hit "Gravity" from Warner Bros. opened big in China. The Sandra Bullock space adventure added $46.6 million to its international total in its eighth week of release. Its cumulative haul is up to $577 million.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak. Where available, latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," $161.1 million ($146.6 million international).
2. "Thor: The Dark World," $14.1 million ($24.8 million international).
3. "The Best Man Holiday," $12.5 million.
4. "Delivery Man," $8.2 million ($1.2 million international).
5. "Free Birds," $5.3 million ($575,000 international).
6. "Last Vegas," $4.4 million ($2.4 million international).
7. "Bad Grandpa," $3.5 million ($2.4 million international).
8. "Gravity," $3.3 million ($46.6 million international).
9. "12 Years a Slave," $2.8 million.
10. "Dallas Buyers Club," $2.8 million.
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Estimated weekend ticket sales Friday through Sunday at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:
1. "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," $146.6 million.
2. "Gravity," $46.6 million.
3. "Thor: The Dark World," $24.8 million.
4. "Fack Ju Gohte," $8.3 million.
5. "Captain Phillips," $6.8 million.
6. "The Counselor," $5.4 million.
7. "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2," $5 million.
8. "Friends 2," $4 million.
(tie) "Me, Myself and Mum," $4 million.
10. "Sole A Catinelle," $3.2 million.
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More