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"The Hunger Games" Hits Box Office Bulls Eye

Megan Singson |
March 25, 2012 | 1:07 p.m. PDT

Staff Writer

 

"The Hunger Games" (Lionsgate)
"The Hunger Games" (Lionsgate)
“The Hunger Games” has exceeded industry expectations, bringing in a whopping $155 million at the weekend box office, the third best opening behind the last “Harry Potter” film and “The Dark Knight.” The film also broke the record with $68.5 million domestically for its debut on Friday, the best for a non-sequel and non-summer opening and the fifth biggest overall.

The film was produced for over $80 million and Lionsgate spent $45 million on marketing which seems to have paid off. The cast went on an eight-city national mall tour and appeared at premieres in Los Angeles, New York, London, Paris and Berlin.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, sales were fueled by tweens and teenagers. CinemaScore data showed that viewers under the age of 18 made up 39 percent of audiences on Friday. The audience demographic showed that women made up 61 percent of audiences, as reported by Lionsgate. The more balanced audience of both male and female fans may be why “The Hunger Games” made more than twice than the first “Twilight” film, which brought in audiences that were 80 percent women.

With the end of “Harry Potter” and the coming finale of the “Twilight” series, “The Hunger Games” has proven to be the next big franchise that fanatics can cling to. Lionsgate hopes to release “Catching Fire,” the second film of the trilogy, by November of next year.

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