"The Hunger Games" Has Sold More Advance Tickets Than Any Other Non-Sequel

[Swinny]

'The Hunger Games' has sold more advance tickets than any other non-sequel, says Fandango

As if we needed any more proof that The Hunger Games is going to be a box-office bonanza this weekend, Fandango announced Tuesday that the movie has sold more advance tickets on its website than any other non-sequel ever. By the end of today, the futuristic action film will be sold out at more than 2,000 showtimes. The Hunger Games also accounts for a staggering 92 percent of Fandango’s daily ticket sales.

However, The Hunger Games hasn’t cracked the site’s Top 5 Advance Ticket-Sellers list quite yet. But according to Fandango rep Harry Medved, it will appear on the list by Thursday night. The current top five advance ticket-sellers are, in order, (1) The Twilight Saga: New Moon, (2) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2, (3) The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1, (4) The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, and (5) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1.

Even though The Hunger Games is only the first entry in Lionsgate’s planned movie franchise, it’s already selling pre-release tickets as if it were a highly anticipated sequel. By this point, a weekend debut of at least $100 million seems assured. Now the question is: Just how much bigger can this juggernaut get?

EW

 

[TroyTheAverage]

Wow, that is insane. I'm not shocked since people have been waiting for this movie for a long time.


Notice what has 3 of the top 5. That's right, Twilight bitches.

 

[Fuji Vice]

Notice what has 3 of the top 5. That's right, Twilight bitches.

You can't argue with success.

 

[W-olf]

The Hunger Games: Is It Already the Biggest Thing Ever?!

Closing in on its Friday-midnight release, box-office expectations for The Hunger Games continue to rise almost as much as screenings keep selling out.

Is it time to take a deep breath, step back and just let the little ole movie do its thing?

WATCH: The Hunger Games Premiere, Every Amazing Minute of It!

No, it's time to take a deep breath, step back—and look up in awe.

The last word from the two leading advance-ticketers, Fandango and MovieTickets.com, is that some 3,500 Hunger Games showings are sold-out. That's double the number reported a week ago. Fandango says Hunger Games has already sold more tickets via its service than Twilight did during its entire run, and will end up among its top-five all-time sellers.

Some of the top theater chains, meanwhile, are reporting advance sales to the tune of $15 million, the Hollywood Reporter reported.

Elsewhere, the magic number for The Hunger Games' opening weekend has crept up, from early guestimates of $100 million to a big, fat $140 million, or even $150 million.

"I'm feeling a groundswell here," Hollywood.com box-office analyst Paul Dergarabedian said Wednesday, adding he wouldn't be shocked by a $130 million-to-$140 million Friday-Sunday debut.

But Dergarabedian also offered a warning: "You need to be careful…We have no track record for the franchise. It could come in higher, it could come in lower."

Even something as "low" as $100 million would be a near-unprecendented success. Only two non-sequels have ever hit the nine-figure mark in their first three days in release: The 2002 Spider-Man and Johnny Depp's Alice in Wonderland.

And, yes, the high eight-digits would be a win, too. (No John Carter, The Hunger Games reportedly cost its studio less than $100 million to produce.)

But back to hysteria: Have you seen Rotten Tomatoes lately? Ninety percent Tomatometer reading!

Here's a rundown of the Top 10 biggest opening weekends in Hollywood history, per BoxOfficeMojo.com domestic stats:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, $169.2 million
The Dark Knight, $158.4 million
Spider-Man 3, $151.1 million
The Twilight Saga: New Moon, $142.8 million
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn—Part 1, $138.1 million
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, $135.6 million
Iron Man 2, $128.1 million
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, $125 million
Shrek the Third, $121.6 million
Alice in Wonderland (2010), $116.1 million

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