By far the biggest movie to open outside the busy summer and late-year holiday periods and the biggest non-sequel debut ever, "The Hunger Games" alone has given the industry a huge prelude to the blockbuster season that hits its stride in early May.
"If this were a summer movie, these would still be impressive numbers," said Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian. "Usually, you'll see sequels in a big franchise like this getting bigger and bigger, but this movie right out of the gate has already become one of the biggest blockbusters of all time."
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. "The Hunger Games," $61.1 million.
2. "Wrath of the Titans," $34.2 million.
3. "Mirror Mirror," $19 million.
4. "21 Jump Street," $15 million.
5. "Dr. Seuss' the Lorax," $8 million.
6. "John Carter," $2 million.
7. "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen," $1.3 million.
8. "Act of Valor," $1 million.
9. "A Thousand Words," $915,000.
10. "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island," $835,000.
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Online:
http://www.hollywood.com
http://www.rentrak.com
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Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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