'Catching Fire' ignites global box office with $307.7 million

Lawrence sows seeds of revolution in return to 'Hunger Games'

Tom Hiddleston promotes movie 'Thor: The Dark World' in Beijing

"The strength of the 'Hunger Games' franchise is not to be underestimated," said Phil Contrino, chief analyst at Boxoffice.com.

"This property has clearly expanded its fan base in a big way both at home and overseas," Contrino noted, adding there was little doubt the new film would shatter the first film's global haul.

The second film follows Katniss on a victory tour with Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) after their win in the annual teen death match staged by the government to keep order. As their heroic actions set off an underground movement for revolution, the two are forced back to the arena to again fight for their lives.

Critics applauded "Catching Fire," which earned an 89 percent positive rating among reviews compiled by the Rotten Tomatoes website and praise for Lawrence, who won a best actress Oscar for last year's "Silver Linings Playbook." Audiences awarded an "A" grade in polling by CinemaScore, an endorsement that should help propel sales in the coming weeks.

Lions Gate spent about $130 million to make "Catching Fire," plus about $55 million on a broadly aimed marketing campaign that included Facebook promotions, ads during NFL football games, and fashion and makeup lines.

The studio took steps to increase overseas sales, which made up about 41 percent of the first film's grosses, a modest foreign take by blockbuster standards. Industry analysts project bigger international sales for "Catching Fire.

Jeff Bock, senior box office analyst at Exhibitor Relations Co., said the film is now projected to total close to $500 million overseas.

The "Hunger Games" film series is based on best-selling novels by Suzanne Collins. Her third book in the trilogy will reach the big screen in two installments - "Mockingjay - Part 1" and "Mockingjay - Part 2" scheduled for release in November 2014 and November 2015.

"It's very possible that the next entry could hit $1 billion globally," Contrino said.

Filling out the rest of the charts, Marvel superhero sequel "Thor: The Dark World" finished in second place, according to studio estimates provided by Rentrak. The movie starring Chris Hemsworth pulled in $14.1 million at domestic theaters this weekend and brought its worldwide total to nearly $550 million, according to distributor Walt Disney Co.

In third place, romantic comedy "The Best Man Holiday" earned $12.5 million. The movie stars Taye Diggs, Terence Howard and others as friends who reunite at Christmas.

The new Vince Vaughn comedy, "Delivery Man," finished in fourth place with $8.2 million. Vaughn plays a sperm donor who discovers he has fathered more than 500 children.

Animated movie "Free Birds," about a pair of time-traveling turkeys, finished fifth with $5.3 million.

"Delivery Man" and "Thor" were released by Disney. "Best Man Holiday" was distributed by Universal Pictures, a unit of Comcast Corp. Privately held Relativity Media released "Free Birds."

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