1. The Hunger Games- $155M
Unlike Harry Potter or Twilight, The Hunger Games only has three books from which to draw from, meaning the window of opportunity to connect with audiences is considerably smaller. It appears that Lionsgate, director Gary Ross, and author Suzanne Collins have made all the right moves because the much hyped film opened with the third best weekend in movie history. Just a shade under The Dark Knight's $158M, The Hunger Games pleased not only fans but those sucked in by all the buzz, registering an "A" Cinemascore and drawing just as many men as females. That was perhaps Lionsgate's wisest move, targeting the trailers and TV spots in a way that appealed to everybody, making guys feel secure in buying a ticket to the event without having their Man Card pulled.
2. 21 Jump Street- $21.3M/$71.1M
Slipping only 41% was 21 Jump Street, which at this rate should claw it's way to $100M, justifying Sony's early push for a sequel.
3. The Lorax- $13.1M/$177M
4. John Carter- $5.01M/$62.3M
The debacle that was Disney's John Carter continues, taking the hardest thrashing of all courtesy of The Hunger Games. Plummeting a horrific 63% from last week, the chances of the sci-fi adaptation limping to $100M have all but vanished, and even if it did that wouldn't come close to matching the bloated production and marketing budget. With Disney announcing this week they expect to lose $200M on the film, it's doubtful we're going to get any sort of sequel.
5. Act of Valor- $2.06M/$65.9M
6. Project X- $1.95M/$51.8M
7. A Thousand Words- $1.93M/$14.9M
8. October Baby- $1.72M
Despite only opening at 390 theaters, the controversial pro-life film performed well enough to crack the Top 10. Backed by The Heritage Foundation and used as part of one of those oppressive "personhood" amendments last year, October Baby saw benefit from the recent successful Christian themed films, such as Fireproof and Courageous.
9. Safe House- $1.39M/$123M
10. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island- $1.37M/$97.2M
In limited release the much buzzed about Indonesian martial arts flick, The Raid: Redemption, opened at only 14 theaters and earned $221,000. That's roughly $16k per site, and bodes well for an expansion, as well as for director Gareth Evans' upcoming sequel.
