The Odds in Favour of THE HUNGER GAMES
UPATED: In Singapore, The Hunger Games collected over S$4 million in its first 3 weeks. This impressive box office result puts Singapore as the best performing Asian territory in terms of print average. Locally, the movie has outshined the likes of popular film franchise, Twilight. The highest grossing title in the Twilight movie series in Singapore is The Twilight Saga: New Moon, which closed at S$3.07 million gross after a 7-week run in the local cinemas. In the United States, The Hunger Games has been maintaining a firm foothold over its #1 spot on the box office for three consecutive weeks, bringing in a worldwide taking of US$460 million.
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UPDATED: Widely regarded and much anticipated film, The Hunger Games, lived up to its reputation and opened to an impressive worldwide total of US$214.3 million, of which US$59.3 million was generated from ticket sales in 67 countries, including Singapore.
The Hunger Games, the big-screen adaptation of Suzanne Collins' best-selling young-adult novel starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth carved out a stellar performance at the local box office, grossing S$1.72 million for the opening weekend (Thursday 22 March – Sunday 25 March).
Despite being the first film in a three-part sequel, The Hunger Games has already surpassed all four installations of the Twilight film with just its opening weekend figure. In the United States, Lionsgate (the producer and US distributor) reported a staggering US$155 million taking across 4,137 screens over the weekend. The gross constitutes the third highest opening weekend of all time, behind well-known films, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows part 2 and The Dark Knight. The Hunger Games proved to be a force to be reckoned with its gross constituting the highest opening of all time for a non-sequel film and more remarkably, a film that is shown during a non-Summer blockbuster season.
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The next big thing after Twilight looks set to be THE HUNGER GAMES, adapted from the bestselling books by Suzanne Collins, following record-breaking advance ticket sales in the United States. Indeed, online ticket seller Fandango reported that it was the bggest first day sale in the company's history, eclipsing that of "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse".
And just a few days ago, Hollywood buzzed when tracking numbers for the movie came on with 23% indicating ‘First Choice’ and 54% ’Definite Interest’. This could translate as high as US$70 million in the opening weekend, bigger than the debut of Twilight.
Excited yet? Well, if you want to secure your place when it opens, you'll be glad to know that Cathay Cineplexes has opened ticket sales for the movie today. Yes, Cathay is playing the movie at their biggest halls in Cineleisure Orchard and The Cathay (i.e. The Grand Cathay), so you can be sure of the best cinematic experience if you book now.
THE HUNGER GAMES, the first in the trilogy, tells the story of a teenage girl, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence), from District 12 of the evil Capitol of the nation of Panem who is faced with the choice of survival, humanity, life and love in a nationally televised event.
Fans of the book may also want to take note that Collins has come out in support of the movie with the following note:
Dear Readers,
I’ve just had the opportunity to see the finished film of The Hunger Games. I’m really happy with how it turned out. I feel like the book and the film are individual yet complementary pieces that enhance one another. The film opens up the world beyond Katniss’ point of view, allowing the audience access to the happenings of places like
the Hunger Games control room and President Snow’s rose garden, thereby adding a new dimension to the story.
Director Gary Ross has created an adaptation that is faithful in both narrative and theme, but he’s also brought a rich and powerful vision of Panem, its brutality and excesses, to the film as well. His world building’s fantastic, whether it be the Seam or the Capitol. It’s amazing to see things that are suggested in the book fully developed and so brilliantly realized through the artistry of the designers.
And, my God, the actors. The cast, led by the extraordinary Jennifer Lawrence, is absolutely wonderful across the board. It’s such a pleasure to see how they’ve embodied the characters and brought them to life.
So I’d like to sincerely thank all the many people who devoted their time and talents to the film, especially producers Nina Jacobson and Jon Kilik, and the excellent teams at Color Force, Larger Than Life, and Lionsgate.
I hope you enjoy the film!
Suzanne Collins
THE HUNGER GAMES is distributed in Singapore by Cathay-Keris Films.
