‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ Burns Past $700 Million Worldwide
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is cooling off at the box office here in the US, but that isn’t stopping the flick from generating serious cash around the world.
With a little help from latecomers in North America and fans in foreign markets, director Francis Lawrence’s follow-up to the 2012 box office smash The Hunger Games has surpassed $700 globally. According to Box Office Mojo, the international total stands at $729.8 million as of December 15.
Moviegoers overseas have put $372 million into the film’s cinematic coffers, while domestic fans ponied up approximately $356 million worth of receipts. If business continues to truck along at this speed, then the movie could easily clear $800 million worldwide before it says goodbye to the big screen.
Despite setting a November box office record, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire was ultimately dethroned from the top spot at the box office by the animated Disney flick Frozen. However, both films were completely squashed over the weekend by a group of hobbits and a very angry dragon.
Forbes reports that Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson’s fantasy flick The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug earned around $73 million during its first weekend in theaters. Frozen trailed pretty far behind the third installment of the trilogy with $22 million worth of ticket sales in North America.
Since it’s the season for holiday movies, quite a few folks turned out to see Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas over the past three days. The film’s estimated weekend haul stands at $16 million, which isn’t bad considering the flick was probably made with very little money.
Landing in fourth place with $13 million was The Hunger Games: Catching Fire while director Alan Taylor’s superhero epic Thor: The Dark World rounded out the top five with $2.7 million in receipts. Altogether, these flicks made over $125 million from moviegoers.
Unfortunately for fans of The Hunger Games, the next installment of the cinematic series isn’t scheduled to hit theaters until November of 2014. The final film, which is essentially the second half of Mockingjay, arrives on the big screen in 2015. If you’re anxious to see how the story wraps up, then you might want to start reading the book.
The Inquisitr previously reported that details regarding the Catching Fire Blu-ray release hit the internet only weeks after the sequel bowed in theaters. Rumor has it that the high-definition edition of the flick contains over two hours of bonus footage. However, specific details about the upcoming release aren’t available just yet.
Are you surprised that The Hunger Games: Catching Fire has generated over $700 million worth of business worldwide? Do you plan to pick up the flick on home video next year?
