By Chris Kavan - 04/09/12 at 12:58 AM CT
The Hunger Games became the first film in 2012 to make it to the top of the box office three weeks running. It seems audiences were still in the mood for something new as opposed to revisiting some old friends over the weekend.
Now only did The Hunger Games retain its position atop the box office, it also became the first film of 2012 to cross the $300 million mark. With a drop of just 43%, The Hunger Games took in $33.5 million to make it to a $302.8 million total. It became the fasted film to reach that mark outside of the Summer/holiday season and only trailed Avatar as a non-sequel film to that total as well. For those keeping track of franchises, it's tracking ahead of every Twilight film and only trails two Harry Potter films in terms of box office totals. It's currently on track to finish somewhere around the $350 million mark.
In second place, the return of the raunchy R-rated group for American Reunion brought in $21.5 million for the weekend. That's tracking a fair bit behind American Pie 2 ($45.1 million) and American Wedding ($33.4 million) and even compared to the original American Pie, it's a bit of a letdown. It doesn't help that R-rated films don't play well over Easter - in fact, despite the low numbers, American Reunion is the highest-grossing R-rated film during the holiday since Panic Room's $30 million debut back in 2002.
American Reunion might have been able to bring the old cast back together, but audiences may feel a bit sour following a string of direct-to-DVD sequels thought the B+ cinema score at least gives some hope the film may still find legs in the coming weeks.
In third place, James Cameron's updated 3D re-release of Titanic brought in $17.35 million. When factoring in all showings, the grand total stands at $25.7 million. While its weekend total trailed most other 3D releases, including Beauty and the Beast's $17.75 million opening, when all is factored in, it only trails The Lion King's $35.1 million showing in terms of popularity. The longer running time may have affected returns but the real test will be whether it made all its money this weekend or if audiences will come back for more in the next few weeks.
Rounding out the top five Wrath of the Titans was off 55% and brought in $15 million for a near $59 million total.While it held better than Clash of the Titans in its second week, it still hasn't made as much as the original took in opening weekend. A healthy international box office may help things, but earning back its $150 million budget seems out of the question. Mirror Mirror held up better, dropping just 39% to bring in $11 million for a $36.5 million total.
In milestone news, in its fourth week out, 21 Jump Street earned another $10.2 million in sixth placed and crossed the $100 million mark to wind up with $109.5 million. Just on its heels, The Lorax took in another $5 million in its 6th week and stands at $198.2 million and should soon become the first animated film since 2010's Tangled to cross the $200 million mark.
Next week Lockout is being compared to Taken... in space! Meanwhile The Cabin in the Woods attempts to shake up the horror genre while the Farrelly brothers try to reinvent The Three Stooges for the modern age. It will be tough for The Hunger Games to hold on for a fourth week - but we'll see whether the tributes can put up a fight one more time.
