Lionsgate Strikes Gold With 'The Hunger Games'

The Hunger Games enjoyed the best weekend opening for a non-sequel
film in history, earning $152.5 million in a heavily anticipated debut that's catapulting the Santa Monica-based production company behind it into the Hollywood spotlight.

The three-day earnings of the film, based on the book by Suzanne Collins about a future society in which death games are played for food, gave it the third-best opening weekend of all time, City News Service reported.

The Huffington Post reports that in reaction to the huge ticket sales numbers, Lionsgate Entertainment Corp.'s shares jumped 4 percent Monday morning. That’s on top of a 33 percent increase in Lionsgate shares over the past six weeks, as buzz surrounding The Hunger Games grew.

“Lionsgate Entertainment … has already emerged as the big entertainment industry winner of 2012," Karl Taro told Bloomberg. “The independent, Santa Monica (Calif.) studio … has emerged as a pop-culture and financial force unrivaled in Hollywood.”

Taro argues that Lions Gate has hit a milestone by producing The Hunger Games —a movie franchise that can produce sequels nearly guaranteed to rake in profits.

which owns the Twilight series, ensures “that Lion’s Gate will not only compete but perhaps take the lead” in move franchises, Taro adds.

Combined, the bankable teen franchises could make about $450 million in profit, Cowen & Co. analyst Doug Creutz estimated in a Fox News article.

"More than two-thirds of Lionsgate's revenue comes from the movie business, so its first blockbuster means a lot. It had been getting by with staples like Tyler Perry comedies and the Saw horror series," Fox News reported. "Lions Gate may post its first profit in five years when its fiscal year ends on March 31."

"The birth of a franchise'' is how Dergerabedian, a veteran Hollywood number cruncher, assessed The Hunger Games.''  He said the movie was particularly strong at IMAX theaters, where an average per-screen showing was an "impressive'' $40,000.

It earned $10.6 million on IMAX screens.

Boxofficemojo.com reported another "crazy" statistic, after just over two days in theaters, The Hunger Games [had] already passed Fahrenheit 9/11 ($119.2 million) to become Lionsgate's highest-grossing movie ever. "

— This article was compiled with information from City News Service and the Huffington Post.