The 1990s were no match for a dystopian future as The Hunger Games held off healthy debuts from an
American Pie reunion and a Titanic re-release.
Neither could sink
The Hunger Games, which claimed the top spot at the box office for the third consecutive weekend with $33.5 million,
according to studio estimates from Box Office Mojo.
Already, the film, which cost $78
million, has earned $302.8 million, which easily makes it the highest-grossing film of the year. The movie should see a
healthy run into summer.
The Hunger Games continued a strong run on word of mouth despite it being Easter
weekend, traditionally a slower time for theaters.
This holiday, though, American Reunion and Titanic
3D had respectable openings.
Reassembling the cast of the American Pie franchise, which began in 1999,
American Reunion collected $21.5 million, which met most analysts’ projections. Though only 44% of critics liked
the raunchy, R-rated comedy, 82% of fans gave it a thumbs-up, according to the survey site Rottentomatoes.com.
James
Cameron’s 3-D makeover of 1997’s Titanic cruised to $17.4 million and third place. Some analysts speculated that
Titanic, the former domestic box-office king at $601 million, could challenge more records with a strong run. The
movie is second on the all-time list to Cameron’s 2009 3-D film, Avatar, which has made $761 million.
Though
Titanic‘s relaunch met the midrange of most projections, the film probably won’t have a long voyage in theaters,
says Tim Briody of Boxofficeprophets.com.
“Titanic 3D exists strictly for nostalgia value, and that appears
to be it,” he says.
The sword-and-sandal sequel Wrath of the Titans took fourth place with $15 million,
followed by Julia Roberts’ Snow White tale, Mirror Mirror, with $11 million.
Final figures are due today.
