The malls and shopping centers were not the only places attracting big crowds over the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend. A lot of folks bought tickets at movie theaters — allowing the two top films to break records and collect a ton of money. The final numbers came out today and they show the action adventure, “Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” won the domestic box office derby with $74 million over the weekend — holding onto the number one spot for the second week in a row. So far this second installment in the “Hunger Games” trilogy has pulled in $296 million domestically and $573 million worldwide.
The domestic five-day-holiday haul for “Catching Fire” hit $110 million — blowing past the 12 year-old record of $82.4 million held by “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” (2001). The second place finisher, the new animation, “Frozen,” also topped that Potter film with its five-day take of $93 million. “Frozen” collected $67.3 million over the weekend.
The two front-runners have very different storylines, but one major thing in common — both have gusty female leads. In “Catching Fire” Jennifer Lawrence portrays Katniss Evergreen, who must fight a tyrannical government to protect her family, while in “Frozen” the heroine, Anna, voiced by Kristen Bell, must take action to save her kingdom.
The superhero flick, “Thor: The Dark World,” landed in third with $11 million, followed by the urban romantic comedy, “The Best Man Holiday” with $8 million, and rounding out the top five newcomer action-thriller, “Homefront,” which debuted with $6.9 million.
