Cinema audiences munch on The Hunger Games
Hollywood's latest teen-killer flick is breaking box office records in New Zealand and around the world.
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Hollywood’s latest teen-killer flick is breaking box office records in New Zealand and around the world.
In a rare case of the hype living up to its reputation, the opening weekend for The Hunger Games was the biggest this year.
The novelty of midnight screenings helped boost the New Zealand box office takings to more than $1.6 million – nearly $1 million more than the original Twilight film and ahead of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
In North America, The Hunger Games pulled in $US155 million – the third highest opening of all time – and brought the total to $US214 million worldwide.
The biggest were the final in the Harry Potter series, released last year, and The Dark Knight, a Batman film.
The Hunger Games kicks off a planned series of four films based on a trilogy of books by young adult author Suzanne Collins.
Set is a dystopian future, a repressive government stages televised games in which two dozen teenagers compete to eliminate each other.
The secret of its success is not so much the violence as the mix of a coming-of-age story with star-crossed teen lovers.
The mainly young female audience to which the film is targeted identify with the heroine, played by Jennifer Lawrence, best known for her lead performance in Winter’s Bone (now showing on Rialto channel).
This is the same demographic that embraced the vampire-based Twilight series and the Harry Potter adaptations.
Nevil Gibson
Tue, 27 Mar 2012
Tue, 27 Mar 2012
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Cinema audiences munch on The Hunger Games
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