The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (Nov. 22): In March 2012, The Hunger Games shocked the world when it opened to an incredible $152.5 million, which remains an unprecedented start for a non-sequel. The movie held well, and ultimately closed with an incredible $408 million (back then, it ranked 11th all-time). In the year-and-a-half since then, the fanbase has only grown in size—many who enjoyed the movie checked out the book series, while those who missed the movie in theaters caught it at home.
All of this begs the question: can Catching Fire match or exceed its predecessor? With a bigger fanbase, more aggressive marketing and a prime holiday release date, the gut reaction is "absolutely." If it did wind up higher, though, it would be defying historical trends. At the domestic box office, only 22 movies have earned over $350 million in their initial run. Of those 22, eight have direct sequels, and all eight of those sequels earned less than their predecessor. The point here is that, when a movie's initial audience is at this incredible level, it's extremely difficult to expand on that with the sequel.
Regardless, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire will be the highest-grossing movie of the season with at least $335 million, which will make this another major success for distributor Lionsgate. Forecast: $400 million
0 comments:
Post a Comment