It was little surprise that The Hunger Games: Catching Fire topped the US box office this weekend, but it did so with style, taking an enormous $161.1 million. That’s the biggest opening ever for November, and assuming the numbers hold steady when final figures are released, it’ll be the highest debut for a 2D only film, ahead of The Dark Knight Rises’ $160.9 million.
It’ll also be the third highest start, behind The Avengers and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. It should continue to do well, with the Thanksgiving holiday coming up this week.
The only other new opener in the top 10 was Delivery Man, which reached fourth spot with a lacklustre $8.2 million on its opening. While it may find some more viewers over Thanksgiving it’s still likely to end up being seen as a failure.
On its fourth weekend in cinemas Dallas Buyers Club made its first appearance in the top 10, thanks to the fact it added nearly 500 extra screens. It took an extra $2.7 million, for a total of $6.4 million so far. It should continue to do well over the coming weeks, especially with Matthew McConaughey tipped for a strong awards run.
Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of November 22nd-24th.
| Rank | Title | Weekend Gross (millions) | Total Gross to date (millions) |
| 1 | The Hunger Games: Catching Fire | $161.1 | $161.1 |
| 2 | Thor: The Dark World | $14.1 | $167.8 |
| 3 | The Best Man Holiday | $12.5 | $50.3 |
| 4 | Delivery Man | $8.2 | $8.2 |
| 5 | Free Birds | $5.3 | $48.5 |
| 6 | Last Vegas | $4.4 | $53.9 |
| 7 | Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa | $3.4 | $95.4 |
| 8 | Gravity | $3.3 | $245.5 |
| 9 | 12 Years A Slave | $2.8 | $29.3 |
| 10 | Dallas Buyers Club | $2.7 | $6.4 |
As most box office watchers expected, Thor: The Dark World stayed on top of the US box office, taking another $38.4 million for a gross so far of $147 million. The 55% drop from the last weekend is about in line with other big movies, and should ensure it ends up with a North American total somewhere around $250 million.
There was no doubt that Thor: The Dark World would top the US box office this weekend, with the only question being how big its opening would be. The first film took $65 million in its opening three days, but The Dark World got an Avengers boost, taking $86 million on its debut.
Despite calls for boycott from gay groups angry at Ender’s Game author Orson Scott Card’s virulent homophobia, the adaptation of the novel has landed at the top of the US box office with $28 million. It’s difficult to tell whether the boycott calls had any effect, as while tracking has suggested a $30 million+ opening for the film, many have suggested the publicity around the planned boycott may actually have acted as free advertising for the film.
As many expected, the power of Jackass won out over the weekend, with Bad Grandpa taking the top spot with $32 million. Although that’s around $20 million less than the opening of Jackass 3-D, the film cost little to make and will prove very profitable.