Weekend Estimates: Hunger Games Smashes Records with $155 Million Debut

March 25, 2012

Lionsgate has reported a $155 million estimated opening weekend for The Hunger Games: a record for the studio, for a non-sequel, for March, and the 3rd-best weekend of all time. In fact, it's already Lionsgate's top-grossing film of all time, beating Fahrenheit 9/11's actual $119 million and inflation-adjusted $151 million in just three days. With an A CinemaScore and a more diverse audience than the Twilight franchise, the film will almost certainly top Summit's best performance (the $300 million earned by Eclipse), but for now the studio will have plenty to celebrate about this weekend alone.

The great weekend for Lionsgate translates into an excellent weekend for the industry as a whole, with a total gross that will be in the top 10 of all-time (see list). Needless to say, this is up from last year, by about 75% in fact, and continues 2012's good run in comparison to 2011: the total year-to-date gross is up about 20% so far.

Although The Hunger Games dominates the news, there are a few other noteworthy releases this weekend. October Baby will post about $1.7 million in 390 theaters for an average of over $4,000. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is projected to earn $700,000 as it expands to 124 locations. The Raid: Redemption is set to make about $220,000 from only 14 theaters in its first weekend. Finally, The Deep Blue Sea will pick up about $130,000 in 31 venues. All are very creditable performances for films in their respective levels of distribution.

- Weekend Estimates
- Friday Estimates
- Hunger Games Saturday Estimate
- Hunger Games Sunday Estimate
- Biggest Weekends for a Single Movie
- Biggest Weekends for All Movies Combined
- Biggest Weekends in March for a Single Movie
- Biggest Days for a Single Movie

Bruce Nash

Filed under: Weekend Estimates, The Hunger Games, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, The Deep Blue Sea, October Baby, Serbuan maut