Photo: Murray Close/Lions Gate Films
After its $68 million opening day (just a couple million shy of the year’s best opening weekend, the stunningly successful The Lorax), The Hunger Games’ record-setting debut weekend is no seismic surprise. At $155 million, the film is the best spring release of all-time, and only falls behind two massively anticipated sequels, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and The Dark Knight, for all-time best opener. Lionsgate, Gary Ross, and Co. “could easily take in $500 million to $700 million†on the franchise’s first effort, analysts tell the New York Times. We can officially move past our tentative “may the odds be ever in your favor†wishes and segue straight into “damn, Katniss — the odds are way in your favor.â€