You know a movie has become a certified phenomenon when it starts being mentioned in terrible op-ed columns, so congrats to "The Hunger Games" for swallowing America's attention span whole. The teenage action flick has now grossed over a quarter billion dollars in just ten days, and it easily swatted away competition from Julia Roberts and Sam Worthington's mullet this weekend. See for yourself (chart via Box Office Mojo).
1. The Hunger Games - $61.1M
2. Wrath of the Titans - $34.2M
3. Mirror Mirror - $19.0M
4. 21 Jump Street - $15.0M
5. The Lorax - $8.0M
6. John Carter - $2.0M
7. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen - $1.3M
8. Act of Valor - $1.0M
9. A Thousand Words - $0.9M
10. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island - $0.8M
Don't expect "Wrath of the Titans" to hang around the top of that chart much longer. The sequel was one of the worst reviewed movies of 2012 (which is saying a lot), and thus this opening bow represents the last of the "Titans" franchise for a while. But let's all pay tribute to "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen," which cracked the top 10 after four weeks in limited release. How did Emily Blunt's little indie comedy stack up against the Everdeen juggernaut? After computing box office receipts and critical acclaim along with staying power we're ready to REVEAL THE PBCS STANDINGS:
1. The Hunger Games - 1,340
2. 21 Jump Street - 302
3. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen - 55
4. The Lorax - 38
5. Mirror Mirror - 28
6. Wrath of the Titans - 20
7. Act of Valor - 5
8. John Carter - 1
As you can see, only eight movies qualified for our rankings this week, with every other movie grossing below $1 million in the wake of "The Hunger Games" hoovering up every moviegoer in sight. One movie to watch that isn't on this list is "Bully," the Harvey Weinstein pet cause that opened to a robust $23K per-screen average, but may not gain a wide enough release to make any real money. Next week, "Hunger" will be challenged by the 3D re-release of "Titanic" and the fourth installment of "American Pie." Mere target practice for Jen Lawrence.
