Although it posted a sizable drop in its second weekend, The Hunger Games still handily took the number one spot at the box office, nearly doubling the gross of its strongest challenger, Wrath of the Titans.
Crushing all opposition into tiny morsels, young-adult adaptation The Hunger Games gobbled up $58.6 million in its second week, down an understandable 62 percent to a still-massive $248.5 million. Continuing with the most common comparison, The Twilight Saga: New Moon had grossed $230.9 million through the same period whereas this non-sequel is far outpacing it, and is still poised to shatter the $300-million mark. Worldwide, the blockbuster has collected a whopping $362.4 million in just two weeks, all that on a budget of just $78 million.
In a distant second, swords-and-sandals sequel Wrath of the Titans debuted to a take just 43 percent of its predecessor with $33.5 million. A general dislike of the original coupled with continued interest in The Hunger Games meant that a gross near the original would be a tough journey. Warner Bros. played it smartly however, increasing the budget by just $25 million and marketing mainly to international audiences, who punched in $78 million worth of tickets. The worldwide tally stands at $111.5 million.
Posting unremarkable numbers in third was revisionist fairytale Mirror, Mirror which was only fair enough to reflect $18.1 million in ticket sales. That being said, with the Easter holiday approaching and as soon kids get a leave from school for spring break, the family-centric comedy should hold up better in April.
The Top 10
After adding nearly 360 theaters, indie comedy Salmon Fishing in the Yemen assuredly broke into the top 10, landing in seventh with $1.3 million, upping its total to $3.2 million. Though on any other weekend this flick would have placed far below notable grosses, weaker repeats below the top five and good word of mouth is helping this small film to an audience in limited circles.
Platforming in just five key cities, recently-notorious documentary Bully saw the best per-theater average of any tracked film with $23,294 and a gross of $116,472. It will be interesting to see if Bully takes off amongst schools and teens in general, or if the questionable "R" rating denial from The Weinstein Company and the embargo by theater chain Regal Cinemas will hinder its accessibility.
Next weekend it’s the late 1990s all over again. In 3,200 theaters, four-quel American Reunion will discover if fans of the series will still turn out, and if new ones can be persuaded. Aiming to recapture the title of the highest-grossing movie of all time is Titanic, now presented in 3D in roughly 2,500 theaters. It's set to debut this coming Wednesday.
