DHD Friday (03.23) 68.25 M | THE HUNGER GAMES (Crow-serving on-going :))

[Eldenfirefly]

Hee, it seems THG is appealing to very broad demographic. This fire could burn really really bright. The Summer tentpoles this year are going to be very nervous now. THG is setting a very high bar, and... what if, just what if it surpasses them?!!! Never under estimate the underdog. Katniss may be smaller than the other Career tributes, but see how that turned out. Be afriad, be very afraid!

Edited March 24, 2012 by Eldenfirefly

[Noctis]

My second viewing will be in a few hours. Cannot fucking wait. A couple of friends of mine who aren't interested in sci-fi or fantasy are actually interested in this.IMAX BITCHES. Let's just hope I don't have a seizure.

[CJohn]

Hee, it seems THG is appealing to very broad demographic. This fire could burn really really bright. The Summer tentpoles this year are going to be very nervous now. THG is setting a very high bar, and... what if, just what if it surpasses them?!!! Never under estimate the underdog. Katniss may be smaller than the other Career tributes, but see how that turned out. Be afriad, be very afraid!

I just can't see TDKR failing to outgross this. As for the rest... THG will win over them all! Edited March 24, 2012 by CJohn

[Eldenfirefly]

Hee, now you will set off all the TA and Hobbit fans.

[kayumanggi]

Kudos to thread title. :lol:

[FilmBuff]

I just can't see TDKR failing to outgross this. As for the rest... THG will win over them all!

Ugh....No....

[spizzer]

I just can't see TDKR failing to outgross this. As for the rest... THG will win over them all!

THG will most likely end up topping Avengers at this point, if not matching it. Hobbit has the most potential out of all the films this year, and even in a worst case scenario (55% 3D share, 20% attendance dropoff from FOTR) it hits 450M. Assuming it lands somewhere in the middle, it should be at worst #2 of the year.

[kayumanggi]

This isn't as impressive as TDK.

[Shawn Robbins]

I get the feeling that the Hobbit is now where THG was about 6-9 months ago when predictions for it were incredibly soft (in the end, even if we didn't know that back then). Which is to say... its been seriously under-estimated, IMO. Even a "meh" film should still generate decent legs thanks to the holidays and general lack of major competition. 3D prices should benefit it similar to TF3, and that's just on the domestic end. Worldwide, it has even more potential thanks to the immense popularity of the trilogy, the cast, the director, 3D, market expansion, and the book itself.I'm certainly aware that it could be a total disappointment and fail to reach even DH2 numbers in a worst case scenario, but I think the goodwill toward the trilogy and the generation of families born in the past decade will show their numbers at the box office in December in a way that Harry Potter just wasn't able to yet (due to its nature as a relatively new franchise with fewer older audiences).

[CJohn]

This is, IMO, the most impressive OW in years.

[lab276]

This isn't as impressive as TDK.

It absolutely is.

[spizzer]

I get the feeling that the Hobbit is now where THG was about 6-9 months ago when predictions for it were incredibly soft (in the end, even if we didn't know that back then). Which is to say... its been seriously under-estimated, IMO. Even a "meh" film should still generate decent legs thanks to the holidays and general lack of major competition. 3D prices should benefit it similar to TF3, and that's just on the domestic end. Worldwide, it has even more potential thanks to the immense popularity of the trilogy, the cast, the director, 3D, market expansion, and the book itself.

I'm certainly aware that it could be a total disappointment and fail to reach even DH2 numbers in a worst case scenario, but I think the goodwill toward the trilogy and the generation of families born in the past decade will show their numbers at the box office in December in a way that Harry Potter just wasn't able to yet (due to its nature as a relatively new franchise with fewer older audiences).

+1111

Hobbit has the most potential out of all the films this year, and even in a worst case scenario (55% 3D share, 20% attendance dropoff from FOTR) it hits 450M

I have no bias towards this film. I have yet to see any LOTR pic, or read any LOTR book. It's just as simple as doing the math. Even with a LARGE decline from the lowest attended LOTR film thus far, and an extremely weak 3D share for a native 3D film, this is looking at around 450 million dollars. I just don't understand how this is being passed off so easily.

Edited March 25, 2012 by spizzer

[CJohn]

Since I follow box office, this is the most impressive OW I have ever seen (I follow box office since the OW of TDK).

[kayumanggi]

My problem is the hyperbole of fans (not saying you're in this group) to want to put gold medals on everything, for any franchise. My underlying point today has just been that we live in a different era now than we did in 2001 or even in 2005. Social media has dramatically changed the way our culture -- especially youth -- absorb any kind of entertainment content. Not just changed, but expedited. That's why I feel putting a label such as "most impressive ever" on THG's opening isn't anything more than over-excitement exhibiting itself through fans who are simply happy to see something they like do so incredibly well.In other words, think of it this way: how much bigger might the opening of Potter and/or Spider-Man have been in 2001/2002 had they received the full swath of a social media marketing campaign? Would it even change anything? Or vice versa, how big would THG have been WITHOUT social media? Probably not nearly big enough (yet) to generate such massive interest, IMHO. It would have gotten there, just over a slightly longer period of time (similar to how Twilight panned out).We'll never know is the answer, which is an example of why I don't like the notion of calling *anything* "the most impressive ever" under virtually any metric.

To be fair Shawn not all films benefit from this Twitter and Facebook thing. THG opened big because of its appeal to all members of the audience and not because of the social media. And people always said hype was just on the Internet, then now we say the Internet has helped it.Not all bestselling books have been successful films. Not all book adaptations with a fanbase did great numbers.THE HUNGER GAMES, a March film that released just one full trailer that intentionally didn't show the action, a non-sequel with just a budget of 78 M and without the help of 3D, opening to 150 M or so is the most impressive opening...of course for me. :lol:It is impressive not just because it's big in one aspect. It's impressive because it's big in every way. Edited March 25, 2012 by kayumanggi

[spizzer]

Looking at the non-midnight IMs of 4 of the top 5 non-sequel openings, and applying them to THG's Friday

Alice - 170.1M OW

SM1 - 178.2M OW

IM - 171.1M OW

HP1- 161.3 OW (midnight approximated)

Edited March 25, 2012 by spizzer

[CJohn]

Journey 2 is struggling to reach the 100M. It will make it!John Carter...

[FilmBuff]

Wow, did you really go back 10 pages just to post that pic? Get a fucking life.

[FTF]

Somewhat surprised there's no Saturday update yet.

[Lordmandeep]

The sellouts are crazy...Some theaters I would wager are as busy as last night.My theater has 3 sellouts for tonight compared to 3 yesterday, the other was a midnight.The crappy theater has pull in 3 sellouts tonight compared to 3 last night.every single theater has one sellout or more for tonight...Looking for a massive Saturday...The film just exploded after 8Pm today...Its 8:30 and many showings for 9-10 pm are selling out like crazy...

[spizzer]

Somewhat surprised there's no Saturday update yet.

Considering how strangely Lionsgate was giving out numbers to Nikki yesterday, I expected it.