Happy Monday! Did you have a good holiday weekend? Here's hoping it was better than what transpired over the last few days at the box office, where returns ranged from modest to sluggish as America's families holed up with God and the Masters and whatever else struck their fancies while multiplexes hummed along quietly with a shrinking blockbuster and a few decent runners-up. Your Weekend Receipts
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You had about as much chance of winning last Friday's lotto jackpot as either Wrath of the Titans or Mirror Mirror had of knocking off the blockbuster incumbent Hunger Games in the box-office sweepstakes, but at least the two new releases didn't have a totally losing ticket. Meanwhile, at least one aggressive holdovers is making its money the old-fashioned way. Your Weekend Receipts are here.
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Lionsgate needed it, and Lionsgate got it: The beleaguered studio's Hunger Games gamble paid off in record-shattering fashion over the weekend, milking smart social-media strategy with old-fashioned saturation marketing — not to mention an honest-to-goodness good film — on the way to $155 million in three days. $155 million. As in the third biggest opening ever. You weekend receipts are here.
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The industry seers pretty much nailed it: "The Hunger Games opened with $68.25M grosses for Friday’s North American box office, including $19.75M in record-setting midnights. That should make for a first weekend of $140M with upside. This is the highest non-sequel opening weekend ever, and the highest debut single day for a non-sequel ever, and the highest March opening ever, and the 5th highest opening day ever." Read Nikki Finke's full report at our sister site Deadline.
You knew The Hunger Games would open big, but this big? Meet your new bona fide box office powerhouse franchise: Taking in $19.75 million at midnight showings around the country, Lionsgate's PG-13 action-romance earned the #1 all-time non-sequel midnight debut, outperforming even The Dark Knight's 2008 $18 million midnight. We've got another true blue four-quadrant blockbuster on our hands, people! If you're sitting bleary-eyed at your desk right now with a happy smile on your face from last night's late night debut, share your reactions after the jump.
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Forget comparisons to Twilight -- will Lionsgate's The Hunger Games hit Dark Knight-level opening weekend success? So sayeth some experts who peg the PG-13 action pic's tracking in the $85 million - $115 million range on par with Iron Man, Spider-Man, and franchise sequels usually featuring wizards or robots. What's more, The Hollywood Reporter cites "insiders" who think those figures are conservative and say the Suzanne Collins YA adaptation could even bank as much as $140 million thanks to its four-quadrant appeal, which would propel it not only ahead of all but one Twilight sequel in the record books, but into the Top 5 weekend openings of all time. [THR]
St. Patrick's Day was not exactly lucky for Nicolas Cage, whose aromatic new thriller Seeking Justice bowed in 231 theaters to a gravely underwhelming $260,000. That would make for a per-screen average of $1,125 and change — by far the worst opening of Cage's 30-year career.
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Everything went pretty much according to plan at the box office over the weekend: Scurrilous liberal plot The Lorax indoctrinated enough kids and families to reign over a second consecutive week, while Disney's super-expensive sci-fi gamble John Carter settled somewhat anemically into second place. But it's not all bad for our boy on Barsoom. Your Weekend Receipts are here.
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What a weekend for Dr. Seuss's The Lorax: The environmentally tinged adaptation became the latest of the beloved author's film spinoffs to capture the top box-office perch. Meanwhile, the raunchy Project X settled in quietly behind it, earning roughly a dollar per topless scene en route to second place. Your Weekend Receipts are here.
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Hollywood's biggest winners this weekend weren't confined just to the Kodak Theater (or whatever they call it now). A new-release frame well-known for its particularly aromatic qualities nevertheless had its success stories, led by an elite squad of Navy SEALs and our old friend Tyler Perry. Naturally. Your Weekend Receipts are here.
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It was indeed a very happy President's Day Weekend in Hollywood, where studios enjoyed the rare treat of five wide February releases raking in $20 million or more. The bad news? The two newest ones brought up the rear. Sorry, Nicolas Cage and Reese Witherspoon — your Holiday Weekend Receipts are here.
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Congratulations to Hollywood for taking back the weekend from pop stars extant, dead or otherwise and shattering the record for Valentine's Day weekend movie attendance. What a great time to be alive! Ahem. Your Weekend Receipts are here.
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Two supernatural thrillers joined a pair of spooky holdovers in the top five of this weekend's box office, where one of the world's biggest stars was no match for the low-budget telepathic shenanigans of Team Chronicle. And, er, what happened to Drew Barrymore? Your Weekend Receipts are here.
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A slightly above-average weekend at the box office abated further talks of a moviegoing slump (for now), with a proven star and a buffed-out Disney classic teaming up in the top two. Mission: Impossible continued its formidable hold, meanwhile, barely suppressing a certain Joyful Noise. Your Weekend Receipts are here.
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"Weak." "Lackluster." "Underwhelming." "Less-than-stellar." Such are the general characterizations of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo's box-office earnings to date from observers, insiders and pundits around the Web. And now for an equally appropriate one-word response to those perceptions: "Huh?"
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