The Weekend Box Office

There's the kids' book blockbuster, and then there is everything else.

1. The Hunger Games (Lionsgate) NEW [4,137 Theaters] PG13-rated Est Friday $68.2M, Est Weekend $140.0M

2. 21 Jump Street (Sony) Week 2 [3,121 Theaters] R-rated Est Friday $6.2M (-53%), Est Weekend $20.0M, Est Cume $69.9M

3. Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax 3D (Universal) Week 4 [3,677 Theaters] PG-rated Est Friday $3.2M, Est Weekend $13.0M, Est Cume $176.7M

4. John Carter 3D (Disney) Week 3 [3,212 Theaters) PG13-rated Est Friday $1.3M, Est Weekend $5.5M, Est Cume $62.2M

5. Project X (Warner Bros) Week 4 [2,065 Theaters] R-rated Est Friday $625K, Est Weekend $1.8M, Est Cume $51.4M

6. October Baby (IDP/SGF) NEW [398 Theaters] PG13-rated Est Friday $595K, Est Weekend $1.8M

7. Act Of Valor (Relativity) Week 5 [2,219 Theaters] R-rated Est Friday $560K, Est Weekend $1.9M, Est Cume $65.8M

8. A Thousand Words (DWorks/Par) Week 3 [1,787 Theaters] PG13-rated Est Friday $525K, Est Weekend $1.7M, Est Cume $14.8M

9. Safe House (Universal) Week 7 [1,330 Theaters] R-rated Est Friday $392K, Est Weekend $1.5M, Est Cume $122.4M

10. Journey 2 (Warner Bros) Week 7 [1,340 Theaters] PG-rated Est Friday $310K, Est Weekend $1.3M, Est Cume $97.0M

What is evident from the above:

1) When you have a hot book franchise that connects with the target audience, you can open your own mint.

2) Chris Meledandri has not lost his touch turning out animated features that people want to see.

3) Andrew Stanton has been gifted with a lesson that things in movieland do not always go the way one hopes and expects. And that nobodyh is infallible in figuring out popular tastes

Add On: The New York Times reports Hunger Games big take:

“The Hunger Games” hit the box-office bull’s-eye over the weekend, taking in a record $155 million in North America and setting up what promises to be one of the biggest film franchises of this decade. ...

Lionsgate did a fine marketing job. (Maybe Disney should hire them.)