'Hunger Games' outshines 'American Reunion,' 'Titanic 3D'

The Hunger Games reigned at the box office for the third week. Over Passover/Easter weekend, the young-adult adaptation dipped just 43% for a total of $33.5 million. That was enough to push its domestic total past the $300 million mark, an impressive tally for the budding franchise. Director Gary Ross is currently in negotiations to work on the sequel, which has the added wrinkle of needing to work around star Jennifer Lawrence's commitment to the next X-Men film and make the sequel's release date. Catching Fire is currently planned for a Thanksgiving release next year.

Jim, Stifler, Finch, and Jim's Dad were back for American Reunion, which earned $21.5 million. Given the comedy's so-so reviews, its contrived (thirteen-year high school reunion?) nature, and the series' dilution through straight-to-DVD spin-offs, the debut was impressive. People still like these characters and the series' raunchy style of comedy. Maybe there will be a 20-year reunion film in the works.

Unlike many other 3D re-releases, Titanic 3D was not marketed as a limited engagement with a two or three-week run. Given that, its $17.3 million weekend total (and five-day total of $25 million) is pretty good, even if it came in on the low side of expectations. The figure was enough to push the movie past its reported $18 million conversion budget. Paramount is probably looking at the long game, too, since 3D televisions have created a home entertainment market for films that require glasses to watch.

Writer/director Whit Stillman's Damsels in Distress made a respectable debut with a $16,000 per-screen average in four locations. Italian import We Have a Pope, nicely timed to Sunday's religious holiday, came up with $10,000 per screen in three locations.

The specialty category had a number of movers and shakers. The Raid: Redemption jumped by 100% more last week as it expanded from 46 to 176 locations. The Indonesian action flick averaged $3,200 per screen for a total of $565,000. Jiro Dreams of Sushi expanded from 26 to 70 locations in its fifth week of release. The sushi-making documentary averaged $3,400 per screen, a 24% increase.

This Friday will see the release of the comedy The Three Stooges, the sci-fi actioner Lockout, and the horror flick Cabin in the Woods.

Wildly successful 'Hunger Games' earns $155 million

Attracting both fans of the book and the average moviegoer, The Hunger Games earned $155 million this weekend, topping even the highest predictions. There are few franchises that I can really get behind, so I'm pleased that the adaptation did so well--the third-highest opening ever (unadjusted). With so many theatres available for opening weekend, this movie should have a steep drop next week. Looking at the charts featuring the highest opening ever, it's impressive how much variation there is in the "opening weekend percent of total" column. The two Twilight movies just below Hunger Games' spots earned 48-49% of their total from their first weekend. The Dark Knight earned just 29% of its total from the first weekend. Hunger Games should fall closer to Twilight than The Dark Knight, but that still would put the movie at over $300 million domestically.

Although plenty of critics have savaged The Hunger Games, many have also come out on the positive side. In exit polls, moviegoers gave the futuristic movie an "A" rating. This would bode well for weeks to come, but pretty much everyone I know that was interested in the franchise has seen it already. Coming weeks should see repeat viewers, laggers, as well as people curious about the fuss.

Even with The Hunger Games to contend with, 21 Jump Street racked up $21.3 million in its second week. The comedy dropped 41%, in line with most of the other movies in the top ten. The exception? John Carter, just three weeks after the $250+ million film debuted, dove 63% to $5 million. Disney's epic is officially a flop.

In eighth place, October Baby rallied up $1.7 million. The anti-abortion drama may have gotten additional momentum from the Republican political arena, where women's health issues have been in the forefront. Since it released on just 390 screens, it had a healthy $4,400 per-screen average.

The ultra-violent The Raid: Redemption earned $15,700 per screen at fourteen locations. Foreign movies with lots of combat tend to do well at home, and this one had great reviews to boot.

This Friday, Snow White redo Mirror Mirror will release opposite the epic sequel Wrath of the Titans.