By Chris Kavan - 04/02/12 at 01:24 AM CT
The odds were still in favor for The Hunger Games, which topped the box office for the second straight week. Despite competition from two major films, in the end, it wasn't even close.
With an estimated $61.1 million, The Hunger Games dropped 60% from its record-breaking opening and broke the $250 million barrier in just two weeks. In fact, it was the quickest to reach that mark for a non-sequel and if it keeps on its current pace, it should wind up somewhere between $350-400 million by the time it ends it run. The drop was about in line with predictions. In comparison it held up better than any of the Twilight films, including the original, which fell 62% in its second week.
Riding a wave of particularly harsh reviews and being a sequel to a film that is not particularly well liked, Wrath of the Titans still came in second place with $34.2 million. That is a far cry from Clash of the Titans, which opened with $61.2 million. With a $150 million budget, only a robust foreign take will save it from being a major disaster (ala John Carter). Still, it managed a decent B+ score from the mostly male (60%) and older audience (55% over 25). 3D accounted for about 65% of the gross, with IMAX making up about 14% of its total.
The week's other big name release was the family-friendly Snow White tale Mirror Mirror. With a $19 million take, the movie wound up in third place overall. It opened about in line with Bridge to Terabithia ($22.6 million) and The Spiderwick Chronicles ($19 million). The movie was aiming for the family and female crowd, but with The Lorax still going strong and The Hunger Games drawing the teen and young adult crowd, there just wasn't as much left for Mirror Mirror.
21 Jump Street proved it still has legs in its third week, dropping just 26.7% (best in the top 10) and taking in $15 million for a $93.1 million total. It should have no problem topping the $100 million mark in the coming week.
Meanwhile The Lorax also had an impressive hold, dropping just 39.3% for a fifth-place $8 million take. The film has made $189.6 million in five weeks and should pass the $200 million mark over the Easter weekend, always a popular family weekend.
Outside the top five, expanding to 483 theaters after a few weeks in limited release, the Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt pairing Salmon Fishing in the Yemen cracked the top 10 with an 7th place showing with $1.2 million. The movie has made just over $3 million and chances are good the movie will add more theaters in the next few weeks.
The next two movies looking to knock The Hunger Games from the top spot are the comedy American Reunion - bringing back pretty much the entire cast from American Pie and hoping that audiences are in the mood to revisit the gang too. Jumping on the 3D re-release bandwagon is the former #1 film in the world, James Cameron's Titanic. Who knows, maybe it can reclaim its title if enough people are willing to take the boat ride another time.
