The Hunger Games Catches Fire For Stellar Debut – Biff Bam Pop’s Box Office Wrap-Up Report, Weekend of March 23rd, 2012

Wow. That pretty much sums up the opening weekend for The Hunger Games. Take hype, add in stellar reviews and polish it off with great source material and you’ve got a huge gross that left every other film in the dust. Here’s how the weekend turned out:

Keeping an eye on the box office returns all weekend long, it was clear that The Hunger Games was a smash. What wasn’t so obvious was how much it would end up taking in for it’s debut weekend. Turns out, The Hunger Games scored the third best opening weekend in box office history, with an astounding $155 million. For a little perspective, the two films in front of it are Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 with $169 million and The Dark Knight with $158 million. Lionsgate and Alliance must be beside themselves with these numbers – really, who wouldn’t be? With strong notices and a rabid fan base, we’re going to be seeing great numbers for the film over the coming weeks, with I’m guessing a lot of repeat customers. You can read our review of The Hunger Games here.

No other films could compete this weekend, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t successful. 21 Jump Street brought in $21 million in its second week in theatres, dropping 41% week to week, which is not a bad number. Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax hit third with $13 million, bringing its total to $177 million. John Carter continued its losing ways, dropping 61% from last weekend to bring in just $5 million, while Act of Valor closed out the top five with $2 million.

So, to recap, here were our predictions:

1) The Hunger Games – $130 million
2) 21 Jump Street – $23 million
3) Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax – $12 million
4) John Carter – $8 million
5) Project X – $ 4 million

And here’s how the weekend turned out:

1) The Hunger Games – $155 million
2) 21 Jump Street – $21 million
3) Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax – $13 million
4) John Carter – $5 million
5) Act of Valor – $ 2 million

Next week, both Mirror Mirror and Wrath of the Titans look to unseat The Hunger Games from the top spot. Be sure to check back on Friday to see our predictions.