Box Office: 'Catching Fire' Breaks November Record

Catching Fire burned up the weekend box office, pulling in an estimated $161.1 million. That gross beats the $152.5 million opening of The Hunger Games, which opened in March 2012, and it stands as the best November debut of all time ahead of The Twilight Saga: New Moon, which bowed with $142.9 million in 2009.

According to EW.com, only three films have ever opened higher than Catching Fire: The Avengers ($207.4 million), Iron Man 3 ($174.1 million), and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 ($169.2 million). Many odds-makers thought Catching Fire might surpass Iron Man 3‘s opening earlier this year, but the superhero sequel had the notable advantage of 3-D ticket sales, and Catching Fire fell short. Still, if estimates hold up when final grosses are released tomorrow, Catching Fire will have bested The Dark Knight Rises as the highest 2-D opener of all time. Rises pulled in $160.9 million during its opening weekend in 2012. Even without 3-D appeal, Catching Fire played very well on IMAX screens. The large-screen format accounted for $12.6 million of its domestic debut.

Catching Fire played to audiences in all four quadrants. Crowds over 25 and under 25 were evenly split, and although the film had more female viewers than males (59 percent vs. 41 percent), more men turned out on opening weekend than for the original Hunger Games. Females made up 61 percent of that film’s opening weekend audience. The passionate moviegoers who saw the film this weekend awarded the film an enthusiastic “A” CinemaScore grade, which will yield great word-of-mouth as the film enters the lucrative Thanksgiving period next weekend. It seems likely that holiday business will help Catching Fire surpass The Hunger Games‘ $408 million domestic total, but we’ll have to wait and see whether that actually happens.

Internationally, Catching Fire is already doing double the numbers of The Hunger Games, which pulled in $283.2 million overseas for a $659.2 million worldwide total. Catching Fire grossed $146.6 million overseas in its first weekend from 63 territories, giving it a dazzling $307.7 million worldwide opening weekend. That’s up 45 percent from The Hunger Games‘ $211.8 million global debut — a whopping $152.5 million of which came from the U.S. and Canada.

VIDEO Round-Up - The Latest Interviews with the 'Catching Fire' Cast

Here's a round-up of the latest interviews with the Catching Fire cast from their Eurpoean tour and the Los Angeles premiere.

Many, many more after the jump!

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Francis Lawrence on 'Catching Fire' - There IS a Rooftop Scene

Francis Lawrence talked to Aint It Cool News about Catching Fire, and a lot of really interesting information is included in this interview. One of the key takeaways: A short rooftop scene was shot for the movie and cut out. Let's cross our fingers for the DVD/Blu-ray extras! Read on:

Mr. Beaks: The political intrigue leading up to the games is much more interesting this time. You definitely take your time getting us into the arena. Were you worried about pacing at all in letting it play out somewhat deliberately? I'm thinking specifically of the scenes with President Snow (Donald Sutherland) and Plutarch (Philip Seymour Hoffman). 

Francis Lawrence: What's interesting is that stuff that was added. In the books it's one point-of-view; you're with Katniss 100 percent of the time. But CATCHING FIRE is totally an antagonist-driven story. Everything that's happening is happening because Snow is deciding some event is going to happen, and Katniss is acting because of that; then something changes, and Snow reacts to that. It was important to see those scenes and sequences we always thought were happening behind the scenes with Snow and Plutarch. Those were backwards engineered, where you know certain events are happening in District 12 or within the games, and then you have to think about "If the two of them are working together trying to figure out what to do with Katniss Everdeen, where are those scenes taking place? How are they coming to those decisions?" It was really fun stuff to develop because it wasn't in the book.

Beaks: That chess match continues into the games. There's another level to the games this time. In adapting the story, did you feel you had to simplify or clarify these machinations?

Lawrence: No, but you have to be super careful. Without giving too much away, there's a lot going on and a lot of plans that you're unsure of for a while. It's making sure that you're threading that story through in a way that you can look back and go, "Okay, I can see how that would happen under my nose" - as it all happens under Katniss's nose. We had to make sure that the story was working on those fronts, but we didn't want to be too obvious with anything. Then it becomes expository and boring and too on-the-nose. It loses its mystery.

MORE after the jump!

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VIDEO: One of the Strangest Interviews We've Seen Yet: Josh, Liam, Elizabeth and Francis Talk to Caesar Twitterman

This is such a bizarre interview but, almost like a trainwreck, we couldn't look away. Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks and Francis Lawrence are interviewed by "Caesar Twitterman" aka Daniele Rizzo, a German comedian.

VIDEO: Lenny Kravitz on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

Lenny Kravitz stopped by Late Night With Jimmy Fallon last night. They talked about how Prince challenged Jimmy to a ping pong match, and then Lenny one-upped him by sharing that he and Prince have played ping pong many times (and bowled!) Jimmy and Lenny decide to challenge him to a future match, and the two discuss The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

Box Office: 'Catching Fire' Ablaze Friday With $70.5 Million

According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is set to score the top November opening of all time:

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire topped the Friday box office with a historic $70.5 million, one of the biggest opening-day grosses of all time in North America and putting the sequel back on course to match the $152.5 million earned by the first film in March 2012.

Catching Fire is also destined to score the top November opening of all time, eclipsing the $142.8 million earned by fellow YA film adaptation The Twilight Saga: New Moon. The movie, earning an A CinemaScore, marks another major victory for Lionsgate and is reaching a broader audience than Hunger Games did, with males making up 12 percent more of the audience.

Overseas, where it is rolling out in 65 markets, Catching Fire has already earned a stellar $64 million. The movie is doing double the business of Hunger Games overall, and is four times larger in Germany and nearly 40 percent bigger in Australia.

In 2012, Hunger Games topped out at $408 million domestically and $283.2 million internationally for a global total of $691.2 million; Catching Fire is expected to do substantially more. By Sunday alone, the movie could cross $300 million in global ticket sales.

Inside The 'Catching Fire' Los Angeles Premiere After Party

Exterior of the Catching Fire after party courtesy The Hob.org

Aerial view of the after party tent from our hotel room window.

Imagine the most epic party you can, sprinkle that with celebrities and models dressed as Capitol people, add a pinch of delicious food catered by Wolfgang Puck then a splash of open bar, and you’ll have the recipe for the Catching Fire premiere after party in Los Angeles on November 18th.

Dan (aka Appius Knoll) and I (Molly, aka Lollia Grey) from PanemPropaganda.com were lucky enough to be invited by Lionsgate to attend the Los Angeles premiere of Catching Fire and the after-party (aka The EVENT OF THE YEAR!) Firstly, the after party invite was the coolest invitation we’ve ever received - a holographic, image of Katniss that changes as you move it. (Check it out in action in Aldrin's video at the bottom of this post.) And YES, we got to keep it!

We walked into the party through a row of men beating giant timpani drums - an excellent touch  lifted right out of the movie’s chariot scene. See Tiffany from Mockingjay.net's video above. That's quite a welcome! This wasn’t just a party, it was like walking into the Victory party at Snow Mansion. Models dressed as Capitol citizens were everywhere, in over-the-top costumes, make-up and wigs. They stayed in character the whole time, snapping pictures with the guests. There were white roses everywhere, food stations and bars wherever you turn, tables piled with colorful desserts, beautiful lighting, and furnished lounge areas set up throughout the event tent.

Capitol people! Photo by Mockingjay.net

Photo courtesy TheHob.Org Donald Sutherland was the first cast member we saw at the party, signing autographs and taking pictures with guests. Next, we talked with Francis Lawrence and thanked him, from the whole fandom, for making such an incredible adaptation of our beloved book. He’s really thrilled that the hardcore fans are loving the film adaptation so much. And he’s really nice and a totally normal guy. He told us to make sure to see the film in IMAX. Whatever Franny says, Franny gets. We’ll be seeing the IMAX version tonight!

Speaking of the book, Suzanne Collins was there!! We missed her at the party, but our friend Tiffany from Mockingjay.net spoke with her. Jeffrey Wright introduced them, whatever, no big deal. (SQUEE!!)

The most surreal aspect of the party was seeing celebs just walking around like normal people, grabbing a drink, looking just as shy and awkward as anyone else at a party of 1000 people they don't know that well. And not. Our inner dialogue went something like this: "Oh hey, Chord Overstreet, what'cha doin'? Oh, just moonwalking around the bar, are you? Ok, you have fun with that. Good times. Joe Jonas. Whateves. Yep, that's normal. Nice hat, Matt Damon. Howdy, every tv commentator from every entertainment show, ever. Oh, Hi Dave Karger!" OK, I actually verbalised my hello to Fandango's Chief Correspondent Dave Karger and he is an absolute sweetheart.

Dan and I (Molly) From Panempropaganda with Bruno! Thanks to Sheila from HGGirlonFire for snapping it.We met Bruno Gunn, and he’s as awesome as he seems on twitter. Almost everyone from the cast was there: Elizabeth Banks, Alan Ritchson, Lynn Cohen, Jeffrey Wright, Woody Harrelson, Jena Malone, Willow Shields, Meta Golding, Trish Summerville, E. Roger Mitchell, Megan Hayes, Elena Sanchez, Nelson Ascencio, Bruce Bundy, Patrick St. Esprit (Thread). Some of our former Hunger Games tributes were walking around the party too: Jackie Emerson, Dayo Okeniyi, Isabelle Fuhrman, Jack Quaid were all wandering around having fun. Even some of our Mockingjay cast members were there! We saw Evan Ross (Messalla) hanging out with his girlfriend Ashley Simpson and Wes Chatham (Castor). Sadly, Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth went straight from the premiere to New York City to do more press and a screening on 11/20.

Sam holding court - and that's Amanda from The Hob, too! Photo by The Fandom.netSam Claflin was holding court at a lounge area surrounded by security. If this is the barometer of his future fame, this guy is going to be a HUGE star. There were so many people crowded around, trying to get a moment with Sam. It was insane. We happened to be walking by when this epicness happened:

When Finnick met Annie. Sam Claflin meets Stef Dawson. Photo by The Hob.org

This is the moment our Finnick met our Annie! Sam and Stef Dawson had never met until the this moment at the after party. Someone brought her over, and they had an adorable meeting surrounded by dozens of fans. When we talked with the very lovely Stef Dawson later, she confirmed that this was their first meeting. She was totally gracious and hung out and chatted with us for a long time. She’s really excited to get started on Mockingjay and super happy to be a part of the “family.” She is like a delicate, gorgeous little fairy. She’ll be just PERFECT as Annie.

Stef Dawson, Molly (that's me!) from PanemProp & Tiffany from Mockingjay.Net.As the night wound down, we got a chance to meet Sam Claflin. He has to be one of the kindest celebs around and seems as though he’s having the time of his life. He hung out talking with us until his handlers dragged him away to go back to his hotel (it was after 1:00am), he even showed us photos of his dog Rosie on his cell phone (she’s adorable)! And I got a huge hug, which I will not soon forget. Sigh. Not over it.

Sam is an epic hugger. Thanks to Amamda from TheHob.org for snapping the picture!!

We closed down the party with E. Roger Mitchell. Being the last to leave the Catching Fire After Party with our Chaff was a pretty awesome way to end the night.

Dan and I from PP closing down the after party with our Chaff, E. Roger Mitchell!

Check out Aldrin from HungerGamesDWTC's fantastic vlog of the party. He really captured it!

Special thanks to our amazing fan site friends at Mockingjay.net, The Hob.Org, HGGirlOnFire, HungerGamesDWTC, VictorsVillage, HungerGamesTrilogy.Net, HungerGamesMovie.Org, TheFandom.Net, WelcomeToDistrict12.com, and MyHungerGames! Most of these pictures and video are from their cameras - so thank you guys for snapping such great pictures. And be sure to check out THEIR after party coverage as well.

And huge thanks to Lionsgate for an unforgettable weekend.

VIDEO: Elizabeth Banks and Lenny Kravitz on GMA

Elizabeth Banks and Lenny Kravitz stopped by Good Morning America to talk Catching Fire, Effie and Cinna today.