by Matt Marshall
Katniss Everdeen certainly set the world ablaze in last year’s $400 million hit, The Hunger Games. Now back for a second round, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire claimed the all-time November record with a $158 million opening over the weekend. Topping previous record holder, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Catching Fire enters the Thanksgiving weekend with the world watching once again.
Marvel’s sequel, Thor: The Dark World dropped one spot after two weeks atop the weekend box office. The superhero film starring Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman fell 61% in its third outing pulling in another $14.2 million. The Dark World is sitting on a $167.9 million run so far.
In third place, The Best Man Holiday grossed $12.5 million in its second weekend. Vince Vaughn comedy Delivery Man and animated Thanksgiving film Free Birds rounded out this week’s Top 5.
Note: These #’s are based on Sunday’s projections and can change with Monday’s actual #’s.
#1 – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (NR)
$158.0 million / $158.0 million total
Bella and Edward’s four-year reign as the top November opener is over. But considering The Hunger Games $152 million record-breaking opening last March, it’s no real shock. Catching Fire, however, did fall short of Iron Man 3’s $174 million opening earlier this year. A strong Thanksgiving bump should compensate for the difference, but repeating the first film’s $408 million run won’t be the easiest feat.
#2 – Thor: The Dark World (1)
$14.2 million / $167.9 million total
Though pegged for a $250 million finish a few weeks back, the God of Thunder has been struggling the last two weeks. Thor: The Dark World plummeted another 61% in its third frame. Catching Fire’s weekend debut didn’t make matters better. At its current pace, Marvel’s latest superhero film look to squeak past $200 million.
#3 – The Best Man Holiday (2)
$12.5 million / $50.4 million total
Thor: The Dark World wasn’t the only film to suffer a blow this weekend courtesy of Catching Fire. After a respectable $30 million opening last weekend, The Best Man Holiday took a 59% hit. Even with its grab-and-go performance, there’s no reason not to expect another sequel for this 14-year-old franchise down the line.
#4 – Delivery Man (NR)
$7.9 million / $7.9 million total
Vince Vaughn has had a horrible 2013. With The Internship tanking this summer and now Delivery Man missing the mark, Vaughn needs to rebound much sooner than later. If his recent pairing with frequent co-star Owen Wilson couldn’t work wonders, how better off would a solo film be?
#5 – Free Birds (4)
$5.4 million / $48.7 million total
With Frozen set for release this Wednesday, Free Birds’ box office run is all but wrapped up. At least Free Birds can say it was least affected by Catching Fire’s opening with a 33% dip. Outside of indie films Dallas Buyer’s Club, The Christmas Candle and The Book Thief, no top films dropped less than Free Birds over the weekend.
Opening Next Week: Frozen (expanding), Homefront (Wednesday), Oldboy (Wednesday), Black Nativity (Wednesday), Philomena (expanding), The Book Thief (expanding)
Source: Box Office Mojo
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Matt Marshall is a YouTube movie reviewer who hosts MNMreviews. He has a B.A. in Communications/Journalism from St. John Fisher College and resides in Rochester, NY.
