‘Catching Fire’ blazes to No. 1
Jennifer Lawrence and “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” scored a box-office bull’s-eye this weekend, roaring to $161 million in its U.S. opening.
The domestic haul is the biggest November debut ever and the year’s secondbest, behind only Disney Marvel superhero sequel “Iron Man 3,” which soared to $174 million in May.
“Catching Fire” added another $146 million after opening No. 1 in nearly all 63 foreign markets in which it debuted, giving it a sizzling first weekend total of $307 million worldwide, way up from the $218 million global debut of the first film.
The massive debut for the sequel to last year’s “The Hunger Games,” which opened to $152 million in the U.S. in March 2012 and went on to take in nearly $700 million globally, means the studio has successfully replaced its “Twilight” franchise.
The next installments of the series, based on author Suzanne Collins’ best-selling young-adult trilogy, “Mockingjay Part 1” and “Mockingjay Part 2,” are set for release in November 2014 and 2015. The studio has launched a massive global merchandising campaign around Katniss and company, and has even talked “Hunger Games” theme parks.
“Catching Fire” blew away the competition, accounting for roughly 72 percent of the overall box-office total.
Disney’s Marvel superhero sequel “Thor: The Dark World,” the No. 1 movie worldwide with more than $500 million over the past three weeks, finished a distant second with $14 million. Universal’s comedy “The Best Man Holiday” was third in its second week with $12.5 million and the weekend’s only wide opener, the Vince Vaughn sperm donor comedy “Delivery Man,” disappointed with $8 million for DreamWorks and Disney.
— TheWrap
Birthday blues: Miley Cyrus’ Los Angeles home was broken into Friday, one before her 21st birthday. According to US Weekly, no one was home at the time, and several personal items were taken.
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News services contributed.