The girl on fire certainly caught the box office on fire. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire set box office records for November with the largest debut in that month to date, the sequel pulled in over $161.1 million dollars at the box office.
Entertainment Weekly reported that the original Hunger Games opened with $152.5 million back in March of 2012.
The previous record holder was set by The Twilight Saga: New Moon which made over $142.9 million in 2009.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire joined the top five greatest movie openings of all time behind, The Avengers, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and Iron Man 3.
Catching Fire did not have the benefit of opening in 3-D but the sequel did very well on IMAX screens, that format accounted for $12.6 million dollars of its debut.
The Jennifer Lawrence lead drama is doing just as well overseas. Catching Fire has grossed $146.6 million overseas in its first weekend from 63 territories, giving it a $307.7 million worldwide opening weekend. That is a 45 percent increase from The Hunger Games, reported Variety.
With two more films planned in the Hunger Games franchise, the odds are heavily in the favor of another box office success.
Thor: The Dark World came in second place at the box office with $14.1 million.
image: Lionsgate