Posted on 11/25/2013 1:03:37 PM PST by SeekAndFind
The girl on fire is still burning bright! Lionsgate’s hotly anticipated sequel The Hunger Games: Catching Fire trounced the competition over its first weekend at the box office, pulling in an estimated $161.1 million. That gross handily beats the $152.5 million opening of The Hunger Games, which opened in March 2012, and it stands as the best November debut of all time ahead of The Twilight Saga: New Moon, which bowed with $142.9 million in 2009.
Catching Fire played to audiences in all four quadrants. Crowds over 25 and under 25 were evenly split, and although the film had more female viewers than males (59 percent vs. 41 percent), more men turned out on opening weekend than for the original Hunger Games. Females made up 61 percent of that film’s opening weekend audience. The passionate moviegoers who saw the film this weekend awarded the film an enthusiastic “A” CinemaScore grade, which will yield great word-of-mouth as the film enters the lucrative Thanksgiving period next weekend. It seems likely that holiday business will help Catching Fire surpass The Hunger Games‘ $408 million domestic total, but we’ll have to wait and see whether that actually happens.
Internationally, Catching Fire is already doing double the numbers of The Hunger Games, which pulled in $283.2 million overseas for a $691.2 million worldwide total. Catching Fire grossed $146.6 million overseas in its first weekend from 63 territories, giving it a dazzling $307.7 million worldwide opening weekend. That’s up 45 percent from The Hunger Games‘ $211.8 million global debut — a whopping $152.5 million of which came from the U.S. and Canada.
Only three films have ever opened higher than Catching Fire: The Avengers ($207.4 million), Iron Man 3 ($174.1 million), and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 ($169.2 million).
(Excerpt) Read more at insidemovies.ew.com ...
Just came from seeing it - excellent. Makes me want to read the books again.
I may suspenders my hollyweird boycott to see it, and mebbe the ‘Desolation of Smaug,’ but then it’s back to crankypants land for me.
Is this something my 12 and 14 yr old can see?
I would say see it for yourself first, you are the best judge. There is violence and a little bad language, and every families standards are different.
My 12 year old, at the time, went with the wife to see the first one.
She is trying to get me to watch the first one so I’ll take her to the second one.
Just watched the first one this week (wife read the books and wanted to catch up on the movies). The young lead character was an excellent actress and I ended up enjoying the movie. It was actually well made with a good script and plot.
I won't break my boycott for any movie at a paying movie theater.
I’m happy to see a chart-topping book/movie about the dangers of big government and tyranny. I hope people think about its meaning and not just how hot their favorite character looked.
They hype fooled me with the first movie , a real snooze fest. I won’t get fooled again( apologies to The Who)
If boycotting because of money, just watch it free online.
I took my 12 and 14 year old. They are still as evil as they ever were...:-)
Took my wife to the first movie but got so bored that I left the theater and sat in the lobby playing games on my smartphone. Tried the book, first one, got through three chapters before I said, "Not for me, Hon. Sorry."
Twilight series...not for either of us.
Wife read Chronicles of Narnia and persuaded me to go to first movie. Sat through it and said I would never again subject myself to sit through a movie that bored me to tears.
Thus my exit to the lobby during the first Hunger Games.
RE: I’m happy to see a chart-topping book/movie about the dangers of big government and tyranny.
Liberals unfortunately will ignore the big government piece, and re-interpret this movie as a fight against ECONOMIC INEQUALITY.
SEE HERE:
EXCERPT:
At its core, “The Hunger Games” is about economic inequality. In the books, the country of Panem is a future version of the United States, after nuclear disaster wipes out most of the population. In Panem, the fraction of people living in the Capitol controls almost all of the wealth. In 12 outlying Districts, people work long hours in Capitol-approved industries at dangerous jobs with low pay. Starvation is a daily reality.
If the books are supposed to function as a cautionary tale against the real class divide in the U.S., we need not look far for evidence. The future of Panem is upon us: More than 20 million Americans can’t find full-time jobs, 22% of children live in poverty and middle-class wages have been largely stagnant since 1974. Meanwhile, corporate profits are at an all-time high.
If the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist, the same can be said of systemic economic inequality. The pull of the American dream is still so strong that many believe the only reasonable explanation for poverty is that it’s poor people’s fault. We don’t blame the system — and in Panem, you don’t blame the Capitol.
My wife and I rarely watch modern movies even though we have multiple premium movie channels. We did however watch “Hitchcock” with Anthony Hopkins the other night. It was very good. No foul language, no nudity, no gunfights, no car chases, no explosions, and most important of all...no zombies.
I agree about Narnia also!
Jennifer Lawrence is a good actress and seems like a decent person. She is a shining, clean standout in the muck that is Hollywood.
Really enjoyed it! I haven’t read the books, but I bet they are fantastic. Have you finished the series? Did you finish it before the first film was even shot?
That is one helluva conservative movie. I got very upset when watching that because I have a young kid and I know that is his future.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.