‘The Hunger Games’ Breaks Box Office Records for Opening Weekend

Jennifer Lawrence in 'The Hunger Games' (Photo: Murray Close)

 

The Hunger Games was a massive hit at the box office on its opening weekend, grossing an estimated $155 million domestically, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The Lionsgate-produced film, based on first novel in the Y.A. trilogy by Suzanne Collins, settled easily into the top box office slot for the weekend, and set a few records along the way. Earning the third-highest opening weekend gross ever, beat only by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and The Dark Knight, The Hunger Games wins first place for the highest opening of non-sequel movie in history. It is also the biggest opening weekend for a non-summer release.

As Rolling Stone reported earlier this week, the film was hitting high marks even before it opened, selling out more than 2,000 showtimes before Friday’s premiere to reach the highest advance ticket sales of any non-sequel movie.