A word to the wise: Never, ever, ever bet against Katniss Everdeen in anything. Not in the Hunger Games, not in an archery competition, not even in a friendly game of Clue. And certainly never question her dominance at the box office. Are you listening, President Snow?
The arrow-slinging diva and her Hunger Games: Catching Fire cohorts didn’t just win the weekend: They killed it, stringing up an estimated $161.1 million. According to Box Office Mojo, no movie released in November has ever earned more (the previous record holder was The Twilight Saga: New Moon, with $142.9 million). And according to these early estimates, it’s on pace to be the biggest 2-D release ever—ahead of 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises ($160.9 million). We’ll have to wait for the actual numbers to come in later today to find out for sure: Check back in, as studios tend to overestimate a bit.
But in the grand scope of things, what’s $250,000? Whether Katniss and company beat Batman or not, there’s no question that this girl is indeed on fire.
Katniss was so dominant that not even a hammer-wielding superhero had a chance. Two-time champ Thor: The Dark World earned $14.1 million, less than a tenth of what Catching Fire did. And Thor’s cumulative take of $167.8 million—making it the 11th biggest movie of the year thus far—is less than $7 million ahead of what Catching Fire made over four days. Expect Katniss to pass our man from Asgard by the time you finish reading this sentence.
The Best Man Holiday continued to impress, cashing in for another $12.5 million. It further spoiled the week’s other mainstream debut, Delivery Man. Not that the Vince Vaughn comedy needed much help in its bomb of a bow. It earned just $8.2 million, relegating this surprisingly sweet laugher to the box office broom closet. Free Birds gobbled up another $5.3 million to hang tenaciously inside the Top Five. Even though the animated lark was regarded as a turkey when it was first released, the Thanksgiving-themed flick has managed to string together a respectable $48.6 million. And with the actual Turkey Day just around the corner, there’s a chance it could stuff a few more bucks in its gizzard, grab another sizeable piece of the box office pie and mash closer to its estimated $55 million budget.
Final figures update: 1. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, $158.1 million; 2. Thor: The Dark World, $14.2 million; 3. The Best Man Holiday, $12.5 million; 4. Delivery Man, $7.9 million; 5. Free Birds, $5.4 million.
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