Deadline reports that
The Hunger Games has smashed records with its $19.75M midnight opening, while other sources indicate that the $65.25M it made yesterday was enough for it to reach the #5 spot in the list of opening day records. This places it ahead of other top 10 films such as
The Dark Knight,
Spider-Man 3 and
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, but behind the final
Harry Potter and three instalments of
Twilight. However, this is still the highest opening for a non-sequel ever.
Lionsgate are understandably said to be ecstatic with these results as they now have a very hot new franchise (based on the trilogy of novels written by Suzanne Collins) in their hands.
The Hunger Games is the studios highest grossing release ever.
"I’ve never lived up at this level. Very few people have," one exec told the site.
"I did see some champagne glasses flowing down the hall." And it's not just North America where the adaptation has opened huge.
The Hunger Games was released in nearly every territory and "humongous" is about as accurate as it gets when it comes to an estimation of how much it will end up making worldwide this weekend. Stay tuned for updates and check out my review
HERE.
STARRING:
Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen
Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark
Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy
Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne
Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket
Lenny Kravitz as Cinna
Donald Sutherland as President Snow
Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman
Wes Bentley as Seneca Crane
RELEASE DATE: March 23rd, 2012.