The Avengers faces a tough battle if they want to top Katniss and company's expected $400 million domestic earnings.
By Fallon Prinzivalli
Jennifer Lawrence in "The Hunger Games"
Photo: Lionsgate
After its sixth weekend in theaters, The Hunger Games" is still lighting up the box office. Katniss and company's cumulative gross is currently a whopping $601 million worldwide, after raking in $11.2 million in the U.S. and another $7.4 million overseas this weekend.
Standing tall at #4, the dystopian franchise's weekend dip was 23 percent, which is the lowest decline yet for the movie (its second weekend in theaters saw a 60 percent drop), according to Box Office Guru. And it wasn't far behind third-place "The Lucky One," which earned $11.3 following its second weekend.
It looks like the assembly of Earth's mightiest heroes won't even be able to stop Katniss' estimated goal. With "The Hunger Games" sitting comfortably with a domestic total of $372.4 million, it's going to take more than Thor and his mighty hammer to bring "Marvel's The Avengers" to the top. If "The Hunger Games" can rake in $400 million domestically (like box-office experts predicted), it would outperform the first films in both "Twilight" and "Harry Potter."
As audiences gear up for the highly anticipated Marvel film, only time will tell what this weekend will bring the first film in Katniss' franchise. And as far as the success of a sequel since Gary Ross is no longer on board to direct, it isn't something Josh Hutcherson, who plays Peeta, is particularly worried about.
"Gary, I think, brought so much to the movie, and he created that whole world that was so close to the book and so perfect in so many ways that it's going to be hard for Francis [Lawrence] to come in, for sure," Hutcherson told MTV News at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. "But Francis is extremely talented and everyone I've talked to says he's the best guy in the world. So I think he's going to bring a lot [to the sequel]."
What film to you think will be the bigger box-office smash: "The Hunger Games" or "The Avengers"? Sound off in the comments! Check out everything we've got on "The Hunger Games."
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