Hunger Games Wins Monster $155M Weekend

The Hunger Games is the smashing victor of the weekend's box office, vaulting past Spider-Man 3 and the Twilight saga to grab the No. 3 biggest opening weekend of all time with $155 million. It's the biggest opening ever for a non-sequel, notes the Hollywood Reporter, and lags behind only The Dark Knight's $158.3 million, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2's $169.2 million.

Hunger Games scored particularly well with the under-18 crowd, and perhaps surprisingly, with males (as opposed to Twilight's dominance among girls). "The numbers just kept growing and growing. And based on the trajectory of the weekend, we are going to have an unbelievable hold. We are going to play and play," crows a Lionsgate rep. (More Hunger Games stories.)