The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, the film sequel about teens fighting to the death in a totalitarian world, is set to dominate cinemas for three weeks and earn $400 million or more for Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.
The movie, with Jennifer Lawrence returning as heroine Katniss Everdeen and Josh Hutcherson as her co-combatant Peeta Mellark, opened in theaters worldwide Friday and is forecast to take in $166 million domestically this weekend, according to BoxOffice.com. That would give Lions Gate one of the top five debuts ever, based on rankings from Box Office Mojo.
Lions Gate could earn more than $400 million from Catching Fire over several years through its share of ticket sales, DVDs, pay television and free TV, according to Benjamin Mogil, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus & Co. The film’s futuristic setting, the appeal of the young characters and a story about rebellion against an oppressive government should attract a wide swath of movie fans.
“When you look at the tracking, it’s for everyone,” said Greg Foster, senior executive vice president of Imax Corp., which will show the film on all of its 650-plus screens for three weeks, including almost 350 in the U.S. and Canada. The film opened in a total of 4,163 North American locations, according to Rentrak Corp., including screenings Thursday night.
Catching Fire underscores Lions Gate’s dependence on blockbuster movie franchises, particularly since the last of five Twilight teen-vampire films concluded its cinema run. The shares have almost doubled this year, after a similar gain in 2012.
An opening of $166 million would put Catching Fire fourth on the weekend all-time list behind Marvel’s The Avengers, Iron Man 3 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, the current No. 3 at $169.2 million.
Catching Fire, based on the Suzanne Collins novel, garnered an 88 percent favorable rating on RottenTomatoes.com, which aggregates critics’ reviews.