The box office caught fire this weekend, as the biggest blockbuster of the season asserted its dominance.
No surprise, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (read our review) is the number 1 film with a massive $161.1 million. That tally puts the film in the number 4 spot for the biggest opening weekend of all time – behind The Avengers, Iron Man 3, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 – and the second best opening weekend of 2013.
However, while Catching Fire did outgross its predecessor’s $152 million opening, it didn’t do so by as much as some analysts expected. It seems that the $160-170 million range is the current threshold for a non-3D release, as both this film and The Dark Knight Rises hit similar marks.
The good news for The Hunger Games – besides this huge opening weekend, of course – is that Catching Fire is doing much better overseas than its predecessor did. The sequel is at $307 million worldwide, leaving us to wonder where it will end up on the domestic and worldwide lists when the dust settles.
Coming in at a distant number 2 is Thor: The Dark World with $14.1 million. Although Marvel’s latest big budget sequel had its time in the limelight, it’s hard not to point out that the film’s $168 million after 3 weeks is only a little more than Catching Fire made in three days. That’s not a knock against Thor, mind you, only a sign of The Hunger Games franchise’s place among the blockbusters. Still, Thor: The Dark World is also pulling in big numbers overseas, grossing $548 million worldwide.
The Best Man Holiday comes in at number 3 with $12.5 million. Universal’s romance/comedy is doing very well against some stiff competition, and has grossed $50 million after only two weeks.
In at number 4 is Delivery Man (read our review) with $8.2 million. Although reviews for this latest Vince Vaughn comedy were better than some of the actor’s previous films, a sub-$10 million opening suggests audiences have lost interest in the actor.
Even Vaughn’s other 2013 release, The Internship, opened with a halfway decent $17 million, and finished with $44 million overall. Delivery Man will be lucky to get even half that. He may have been a bankable name in the comedy genre at one point, but clearly Vaughn’s appeal has waned considerably.
Rounding out the top 5 is the animated film Free Birds with $5.3 million. With little competition to contend with, Free Birds appears to be holding steady in the top 5, but that should change once Frozen hits next week. Nevertheless the film has grossed $48 million after 4 weeks.
The number 6 film this weekend is Last Vegas with $4.4 million. This senior-focused, Hangover-esque film continues to trade spots with Free Birds, while also grossing a commendable $53 million in the process.
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa is the number 7 film this weekend with $3.4 million. Now at $95 million overall, this Jackass spin-off has cemented its place as the second highest grossing film in the franchise, and a breakout hit.
Coming in at number 8 is Gravity with $3.3 million. Although the film didn’t jump up in the 2013 Highest Grossers list this week, it’s still sitting pretty with $245 million overall.
In at number 9 is 12 Years a Slave with $2.8 million. The film has grossed $29 million after 6 weeks.
Dallas Buyers Club rounds out the top 10 with $2.7 million. The film has been receiving mostly positive praise from critics, and should be a contender come awards season, but it has only grossed $6 million after 4 weeks.
Outside the top 10: the Stephen Frears-directed dramedy Philomena (read our review) opened with $133,700 on only 4 screens for a per-screen-average of $33,425.
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[NOTE: These are only weekend box office estimates – based on Friday and Saturday ticket sales coupled with adjusted expectations for Sunday. Official weekend box office results will be released on Monday, November 25th – at which time we’ll update this post with any changes.]
