Box Office Preview: 'Hunger' likely to eat 'Pie'

April 5, 2012 RSS Feed Print

By PAUL DERGARABEDIAN, Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — "The Hunger Games" will likely eat — or sink — two returning old favorites this Easter weekend, continuing its three-week supremacy at the nation's theaters with another $28 million to $32 million in its box office basket. This will give Lionsgate's adaptation of the bestseller about teens fighting to the death a total of $300 million in North America alone by Sunday night.

It's been almost 10 years since the "American Pie" gang last saw the inside of a multiplex and the whole crew is back this weekend in Universal's "American Reunion." The R-rated comedy marks the fourth installment of the highly successful comedy franchise, which has earned nearly $650 million worldwide. Look for this gross-out to gross in excess of $20 million.

Paramount brings an added dimension to one of the most beloved movies ever as James Cameron's 1997 "Titanic" sets sail in 3-D for the first time. The PG-13 film opened Wednesday with an impressive $4.4 million and by Sunday night, should have sunk around $30 million into its already sizeable bank account.

"Wrath of the Titans" from Warner Bros. should command a second-weekend gross in the high teens as it capitalizes on solid mid-week numbers. The sequel to 2010's "Clash of the Titans," the action-fantasy should top $60 million by Sunday night.

Relativity Media's PG-rated "Mirror Mirror" should benefit from family movie-going over Easter weekend, with an expected second-weekend gross of just over $10 million. But Sony's action-comedy "21 Jump Street" will also make a run at the top five, with a likely gross in the same $10 million territory in its fourth weekend of release, topping the $100 million mark in the process.

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Paul Dergarabedian is president of the Box Office Division of Hollywood.com and provides box office analysis for The Associated Press.

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