As expected, it was all about Katniss as The Hunger Games: Catching Fire topped the box office with ease with $158.1 million. Playing in 4,163 locations,, the widest release for a non-summer flick, the sequel averaged an incredible $37,971 (it also averaged $14,773 from 10,700 screens and $1,167 from 135,400 showtimes between Thursday evening and Sunday). One stunning fact here is that the sequel had great playability through the weekend, as it experienced a strong Saturday hold, and as a result, the weekend gross was a bit higher than its' predecessor (yesterday, many believed it would fall just short). But, teenagers who were in school on Friday had Saturday to flock to the movie, so it's interesting that its' playing a bit like a family movie. The sequel had the biggest opening ever for November, ahead of The Twilight Saga: New Moon's $142.7 million launch back on the pre-Thanksgiving frame in 2009.Catching Fire had the sixth-biggest opening of all-time, behind The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part II, and both Dark Knight movies. Four of those movies had 3D to boost it, so Fire's attendance was probably higher than three of them. But how will it play out in the weeks ahead? Well, sequels usually don't hold as well in the long run, but Catching Fire will have the extended Thanksgiving period to help make up for a huge drop. It will easily top that frame, though Frozen may upset it in its' third weekend (provided the animated comedy opens as strong as some think it will). Right now, I can't rule out whether or not it will top its' predecessor's $408 million gross. Should it, it would also top Iron Man 3's $409 million gross for the biggest gross of a 2013 movie domestically. However, based on recent sequel trajectories, its more likely to wind up in the $350-$375 million range, but we'll see how well it holds against The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug before I jump to conclusions.
Overseas, Katniss and co. debuted to phenomenal numbers, with an absolutely fantastic $138.4 million from 64 markets. That's over double the amount the first movie earned, and shows the brand growth of The Hunger Games overseas. A final worldwide gross north of $800 million is nearly in reach at this point, with even an outside chance of hitting $1 billion (but right now, its' pretty unlikely with the competition coming). Critical reception was strong, while audiences gave it an "A" CinemaScore. Distributor Lionsgate/Summit was a bit more modest with a $145-$155 million projection, and produced it for $140 million, nearly double the amount of the original's $78 million budget.
The rest of the movies were miniaturized by Catching Fire. Thor: The Dark World was hurt pretty badly, and was off 61% to $14.2 million, for a solid $167.9 million gross in 17 days, or about $10 million more than what its' competition earned in less than a quarter of that time. Still though, with a Thanksgiving bump expected, the superhero sequel will easily finish above $200 million. Last week's topper, The Best Man Holiday, was surprisingly front-loaded despite its' "A+" CinemaScore. The holiday-themed comedy fell 59% to $12.5 million, for a still-solid $50.4 million gross in 10 days, and will likely close around $80 million, as long as it gets a Thanksgiving bump.
Meanwhile, the only film brave enough to open in the face of Katniss failed miserably, as dramedy Delivery Man gave Vince Vaughn his lowest debut of his career, with $7.9 million, for a per-venue average of a terrible $2,617. That was below even the least of expectations, which had forecasted a $10 million debut or higher. Despite a solid marketing effort from Disney (through Touchstone), the concept of a father having many children due to a clinic error seemed just a bit too far-fetched. Audiences did give it a "B+" CinemaScore, and the Thanksgiving weekend could have older audiences come out more, but the highest this will go is $30 million, which is an all-time low for Vaughn. Disney never released an official projection, and they financed the $26 million film.With no competition, Free Birds continued to hold well and remained in the Top 5 for a fourth-straight frame, off a light 34% to $5.4 million. Since its' debut 24 days ago, the animated flick has earned a decent $48.7 million, and will have its attention stolen by Frozen on Wednesday. The final gross will likely be in line with its' $55 million budget, if not slightly higher. Last Vegas was surprisingly affected by Delivery Man, and dropped 48% to $4.4 million, for a strong $53.9 million gross in the same amount of time, and should get a small boost over Thanksgiving. Bad Grandpa also dropped hard, off 54% to $3.5 million, for a $95.4 million gross in one month of release. The comedy will still close above $100 million thanks to a boost over the extended weekend.
With Catching Fire snatching a lot of screens, there wasn't much room left for Gravity, which has been in the Top 10 for eight-straight weekends. The blockbuster fell 47% to $3.2 million, for a huge $245.4 million pick-up in 56 days, and will still pass $250 million before its done. Two potential Oscar contenders rounded out the Top 10. 12 Years a Slave expanded to roughly 1,500 locations, but was off 39% to $2.8 million, for a $29.4 million pick-up in 37 days. Dallas Buyers Club expanded to 666 locations, and earned a solid $2.7 million, for a per-venue average of a decent $4,035. Since its' limited opening four weeks ago, the Matthew McCaugnahey flick has picked up $6.4 million.
The Christmas Candle bowed in 392 locations and earned $830,000, for a per-venue average of a stale $2,125 and landing in 14th place. That debut was slightly off from Grace Unplugged and I'm in Love with a Church Girl from a couple of months back, though with the Christmas theme, its' likely the Max Lucado adaptation will close ahead of those two films' $2-$2.5 million final grosses.
In milestone news, Catching Fire and Captain Phillips became the years' 27th and 28th movies to pass $100 million domestically. With some strong titles left to debut, 2013 is likely to pass 2009's 32-movie record for the most movies to pass $100 million.
Overseas, we are aware of Catching Fire's $138.4 million pick-up to top the foreign charts. Gravity opened to a spectacular $35.5 million in China, while Thor: The Dark World added $24.8 million for a worldwide gross of nearly $550 million. No other international data is available.
