'Hunger Games' Box Office King for Second Week
Teen action film phenomenon "The Hunger Games" stayed on top of the North American box office for a second weekend, easily outsmarting Greek gods and Snow White, industry estimates showed Sunday.
The movie, which opened with a record $152.5 million last weekend, has surged to a total of $250 million in just 10 days in theaters, Exhibitor Relations said on its website. It made $60 million this weekend.
Armies of fans have flocked to theaters to see the movie, based on a book for young adults by Suzanne Collins, in which a teenage girl played by Elizabeth Banks fights to win a death match TV reality show in a post-apocalyptic world.
In distant second place was new film "Wrath of the Titans" with $36 million. In this fantasy sequel to 2010's "Clash of the Titans," gods lose control over the imprisoned Titans and Perseus is called upon to save his father Zeus, get rid of the Titans and save mankind.
A contemporary take on the Snow White fairy tale, "Mirror Mirror" also had a disappointing opening, with $22 million. Julia Roberts plays an evil queen who seizes control of a kingdom, while its exiled princess Lily Collins seeks the help of seven rebels to regain her realm.
In fourth were the youthful policemen of 1980s remake "21 Jump Street," which pulled in $15 million for its third weekend in theaters.
The film with underachieving cops Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum, sent on an undercover counternarcotic mission at a high school, had an overall haul of $94 million.
Fifth was the animated film "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax" with a $9 million weekend take and $190 million in the bank after four weekends on the big screen.
The Disney critical flop -- and huge loss-maker -- "John Carter" came in sixth, with $2.25 million in its fifth weekend in theaters.
The film about an ex-Civil War soldier magically transported to Mars is based on books by "Tarzan" author Edgar Rice Burroughs. Disney has announced that it expected to lose $200 million on the movie in its second fiscal quarter.
New release "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen," Lasse Hallstrom's feature about a fisheries expert's bid to bring the sport of fly-fishing to the desert, grabbed $1.75 million to land in seventh.
In eighth came "Act of Valor," a war film starring active duty U.S. Navy SEALs, with $1.5 million in receipts.
"Project X," a coarse comedy about a high school party that gets out of control, came in ninth after snatching $1 million.
Rounding out the top 10 was the Eddie Murphy comedy "A Thousand Words," also earning an estimated $1 million.
Source: Agence France Presse
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