Entertainment

'Catching Fire' Breaks Thanksgiving Box Office Records

The second installment in the "Hunger Games" franchise, "Catching Fire," shattered the Thanksgiving weekend box office records.

'Catching Fire' Breaks Thanksgiving Box Office Records
Lionsgate
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Katniss Everdeen finally set fire to Harry Potter's box office records.

"The Hunger Games" sequel, "Catching Fire," shattered records for both the three- and five-day Thanksgiving weekend box offices with $74.5 million over the weekend and more than $110 million total. 

"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" had previously reigned supreme at $57.5 million and $82.4 million for each time frame back in 2001. 

And a writer for Forbes says that "even if you want to play the inflation game," "Catching Fire" is still the third-ranking debut-weekend earner of all time, behind "Toy Story 2" and "Sorcerer's Stone." (Via Forbes)

Interestingly, Disney's new animated feature, "Frozen," also surpassed Harry's 12-year-old records but just couldn't quite keep up with "Catching Fire." "Frozen" brought in $66.7 million over the weekend and $93 million total. 

 With inflation, "Frozen" now claims Disney's biggest opening weekend release since its 1994 classic, "The Lion King." (Via Buzzfeed)

In 2012, the first Hunger Games movie raked in about $405 million total. Now, "Catching Fire" is expected to go even further, enough to upset "Iron Man 3" as the top-earning film for the year, according to the LA Times

So now it's time to sit back and see how "The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug" will compete with "Fire" and "Frozen" during the holiday season. "The Hobbit" sequel opens Dec. 18th. 

Still, we have a feeling Katniss Everdeen could be Hollywood's ultimate victor for 2013.