The Hunger Games: Catching Fire helped the folks at Lionsgate generate upwards of $1 billion in ticket sales over the course of 2013.
The studio certainly enjoyed a banner year thanks to the highly-anticipated sequel to Gary Ross’ 2012 box office hit. This is the second year in a row that Lionsgate made $1 billion in North America, a feat that is usually reserved for Hollywood’s largest studios.
In addition to director Francis Lawrence’s sequel to The Hunger Games , Lionsgate got a little help in the box office success department from director Louis Leterrier’s Now You See Me . This summer’s sleeper hit generated a surprising $117 million in the US alone. When you figure in foreign grosses, that total rises to a deeply impressive $351 million.
Of course, Catching Fire was no slouch either. The second installment based on Suzanne Collins’ popular young adult novels grossed $372 million in North America. Internationally the sequel has presently made $765 million , a number that could reach $800 million before the flick disappears from theaters.
“Our strong box office performance for the second year in a row, domestically and internationally, underscores the consistency of our film slate and is a testament to the tireless efforts of our entire motion picture team,” Lionsgate said in a recent press release.
The studio continued, “We continue to do more with less, maintaining our commitment to a disciplined financial model that is focused on limiting production capital at risk. We’re especially pleased to achieve contributions from our entire portfolio of films this year.”
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Now You See Me weren’t the studio’s only strong performers this year. Lionsgate also enjoyed quite a bit of business from Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain and the Spanish-language flick Instructions Not Included .
The Inquisitr previously reported that Catching Fire was one of the highest-grossing films of 2013 . The film’s $765 million international gross helped it compete with the likes of Fast and Furious 6 , Iron Man 3 , and the animated family flick Despicable Me 2 .
Lionsgate’s success at the worldwide box office is likely to continue throughout 2014 as well. Not only will the studio unveil The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 , the studio will drop the star-studded sequel The Expendables 3 on the movie-going masses. If you missed the teaser trailer for the former, check out the clip below.
Are you surprised that Lionsgate managed to cross the $1 billion mark domestically with some help from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Now You See Me ?
