Moviegoers Have Appetite for Hunger Games

It’s become a familiar theme for Hollywood in recent years to take a popular book series and turn it into movie.

Following in the footsteps of the “Harry Potter” and “Twilight” series, the “Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins seemed a natural choice for a movie series.

And there was plenty of appetite for the dystopian movie. The “Hunger Games” made $155 million this past weekend, the third strongest opening weekend ever in movie history.

Theaters across the country showed the sheer force of what will become a billion dollar franchise. There were more than three dozen show times in multiple theaters. There were shows starting constantly, and there were massive lines for each showing up until people were let into the theater. An equally large line for the IMAX show had also formed even though the basic ticket price was $18.50 – $6 dollars more than the regular screens.

With this kind of turnout on an opening weekend, it’s obvious that this will be the next massive blockbuster franchise. The strongest advantage that “Hunger Games” has is that it can appeal to anyone who watches the preview. It isn’t gender targeted like another certain young adult novel series, the “Twilight” series. The theater was filled with people of all ages and genders. There’s action, romance, suspense, good guys, and bad guys; it’s a perfect formula for a marketable movie.

Because of this marketability, the movie will more than likely destroy the box office again next weekend, leaving the soon to be released “Mirror Mirror” and “Wrath of the Titans” in the wake of its second week at the No. 1 box office spot. Both of those movies would normally have box office potential, but releasing two pricey, big-budget movies one week after this juggernaut seems like a rather idiotic move by a studio executive that ought to be able to predict when a movie is going to succeed or fail. We’ll see how they fare next week.

Regarding the movie itself, I cannot say that I loved it. It was a very well made movie, the main story was fairly unaltered, and it was cast perfectly. But like almost any good book, there were a number of small side plots and memorable scenes that were in the novel that were cut. While the movie did fall short of the book, it was still a fun movie to see.

Two more sequels are in the works and audiences will be even hungrier when the next one arrives on Nov. 22 of next year.

Hungar Games is now playing at and Manassas 4 Cinemas.