Hunger Games still holding strong and seeing green...must be people! 
Weekend Report: 'Hunger Games' Three-peats, Passes $300 Million Over Easter
by Ray Subers -- April 8, 2012
Despite the entrance of two competitive titles to the marketplace over Easter Weekend, box office phenomenon The Hunger Games had little difficulty taking the top spot for the third-straight frame. American Reunion opened in second place, though its debut doesn't compare favorably to earlier series entries, while Titanic 3D wound up on the low-end among 3D re-releases. The Top 12 earned an estimated $117 million this weekend, which is up 14 percent from the same period last year but off a bit from Easter 2011 (which was later in the month).
The Hunger Games dropped 43 percent to an estimated $33.5 million. That's the seventh-highest second weekend of all-time, and it's the best since Alice in Wonderland in March 2010. Based on Lionsgate's projections, the movie will pass $300 million on Easter Sunday, which is only its 17th day in theaters. That's the sixth-fastest pace ever, and it ranks second behind Avatar among non-sequels. Its estimated $302.8 million total is more than the final tally of all of the Twilight movies and all but two of the Harry Potter flicks. Based on its current trajectory, The Hunger Games should end up with at least $350 million.
American Reunion took second place with an estimated $21.5 million from 3,192 locations. That's much lower than the opening weekend for American Pie 2 ($45.1 million) and American Wedding ($33.4 million), and it's even noticeably off from the original American Pie in estimated attendance. Still, it didn't drop quite as far from its predecessor as Scream 4, which was last April's attempt at resuscitating a long-dormant franchise for a fourth outing.
There are plenty of possible reasons for American Reunion's underwhelming debut. Women may have been distracted a bit by The Hunger Games and Titanic 3D, which earned over $50 million combined. Also, Easter weekend can be a tough time to open an R-rated movie—American Reunion's $21.5 million is actually the best R-rated Easter debut since Panic Room a decade ago. In comparison, the first three American Pie movies were all released in the Summer, which is prime real estate for raunchy R-rated fare.
While timing surely played a role, the bigger problem was probably with the brand itself. While the first three American Pie movies played a part in establishing the model for risqué sex comedies in the new century, they haven't really held up that well (when the average person is asked what they think of American Pie, the standard response seems to be: "I liked the first one, but the sequels? Not so much.") Also, after seeing ads for cheesy direct-to-video spin-offs for the better part of the last decade, people were probably less likely to pay much attention to the ads for American Reunion. Those spin-offs were meant to prolong the brand, but in doing so they also wound up diluting it a bit.
Universal is reporting that 61 percent of the audience was 25 years of age or older, and it also skewed slightly male (51 percent). They awarded the movie a solid "B+" CinemaScore, which doesn't really give a strong indication regarding word-of-mouth.
Titanic 3D earned $17.35 million from 2,674 locations this weekend, which brought its five-day total to $25.7 million. Including the original release, James Cameron's period epic has grossed $626.5 million at the domestic box office, which ranks second on the all-time chart behind Avatar.
The movie's three-day weekend was the lowest among all four of the 3D re-releases from the past eight months, including Beauty and the Beast ($17.75 million). That's not an entirely fair comparison, though, given its 194 minute runtime and Wednesday opening. Looking at it another way, Titanic 3D's five-day opening of $25.7 million ranks second among 3D re-releases behind The Lion King ($35.1 million).
Paramount is reporting that the audience was 51 percent under the age of 25 (most of whom were probably a bit too young to see the movie on the big screen in 1997), and 60 percent female. They awarded the movie an "A" CinemaScore, which bumped up to an "A+" among women. Eight percent of the grosses came from 79 IMAX screens, and the movie will move on to many more of those screens on Friday when more of the Wrath of the Titans commitments expire. Because it's an all-digital release (meaning theaters can easily switch between 3D and 2D presentations), Paramount is not currently providing a 3D share.
The jury is still out on Titanic 3D. If it burns out quickly like Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace in 3D, then it should be viewed as a bit of a disappointment—considering how popular Titanic is, though, that scenario seems extremely unlikely.
In fourth place, Wrath of the Titans fell 55 percent to just over $15 million. That's a slightly better hold than Clash of the Titans had (56.5 percent decline), though Wrath's $58.9 million 10-day total is less than Clash's opening weekend gross ($61.2 million).
Mirror Mirror dipped 39 percent to an estimated $11 million in its second weekend. That's a fine hold, though it's a bit worse than past family titles over Easter weekend (for example, Rio and Monsters Vs. Aliens were both off 33 percent). Relativity Media's Snow White flick has now earned $36.5 million.
In its fourth outing, 21 Jump Street eased just 31 percent to an estimated $10.2 million. It passed $100 million on Friday, and is at a very impressive $109.6 million through Sunday.
Dr. Seuss' The Lorax added $5 million this weekend to bring its total to $198.2 million. By Tuesday or Wednesday it will become the second 2012 movie to pass $200 million, and the first animated movie to hit that mark since 2010's Tangled.
The Raid: Redemption expanded to 176 locations and grossed an estimated $565,000 ($3,210 per-theater average), which was good for 11th place this weekend. The movie is currently scheduled to expand in to at least 500 more theaters next weekend, which technically means it will be making a nationwide expansion (600+ venues).
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