The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Archives

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (Blu-ray)

March 16, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Sam Claflin, Liam Hemsworth, Donald Sutherland
Director: Francis Lawrence
Running Time: 146 mins
Certificate: 12
Release Date: March 17th 2014

With the first Hunger Games, many remarked that it was surprisingly violent for a young adult film. The second isn’t quite as violent, but it’s is surprisingly dark and gritty. Many wondered whether swapping director Gary Ross for Francis Lawrence would result in a more mainstream, Hollywood-ised tale, but instead it’s rather gone the other way, with a film that doesn’t pull its punches over the darkness and pain at its heart, or try to make its hero less flawed than she is. [Read more…]

The Hobbit Tops The Post-Christmas US Box Office

December 30, 2013 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

It was a busy weekend for new releases at the US box office, but in the end none of them could beat out The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug, which topped the charts again with $29.8 million. Perhaps more impressive though was Frozen in second place. It’s $28.8 million is the second highest ever (behind Avatar) for a movie in its sixth week of release, and pushes the movie up to be Disney’s second highest grossing animated movie in the US, with only The Lion King beating it.

Of the five big new releases, The Wolf Of Wall Street did best with $18.5 million over the weekend and $34 million since it’s Christmas Day release. Although it only placed fifth on the chart, it’s still considered a good start for an R rated movie that runs nearly three hours.

Ben Stiller’s The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty grossed $13 million over the weekend and $23 million since Christmas. While about in line with expectations, it’s not great for a pretty expensive movie, especially one that had high Oscar hopes earlier this year.

The big disaster though was 47 Ronin, which cost $175 million to make, but only placed ninth with $9 million over the weekend and $20 million since Christmas. Once marketing costs are taken into account, some believe Universal will lose the entire $175 million it spent making the Keanu Reeves movie.

Outside the top 10, the Robert De Niro & Sylvester Stallone boxing movie had a passable $7.4 million opening, which isn’t bad at a packed box office, especially as it wasn’t a particularly expensive movie. Justin Bieber however had less to cheer about, as while his last concert movie, Never Say Never, opened to nearly $30 million, his new one, Believe, grossed just $4 million since it opened on Christmas Day. It certainly seems the Beliebers stayed home for this one, which shows just how fickle the concert movie business can be.

Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of December 27th-29th 2013.

Rank	Title	Weekend Gross (millions)	Total Gross to date (millions)
1	The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug	$29.8	$190.3
2	Frozen	$28.8	$248.3
3	Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues	$20.1	$83.6
4	American Hustle	$19.5	$60.0
5	The Wolf Of Wall Street	$18.5	$34.3
6	Saving Mr. Banks	$14.0	$37.8
7	The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty	$13.0	$25.5
8	The Hunger Games: Catching Fire	$10.2	$391.1
9	47 Ronin	$9.8	$20.5
10	Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas	$7.4	$43.7

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
FILMS: The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug, Frozen, Anchorman 2, American Hustle, The Wolf Of Wall Street, Saving Mr. Banks, The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, 47 Ronin

The Hobbit Beats Out Anchorman 2 At The US Box Office

December 23, 2013 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

With a lot of films battling it out at the US box office, it wasn’t clear going into the weekend which would end up on top. In the end The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug took the number one spot, with $31.4 million.

That means it beat out the hotly tipped Anchorman 2, which came second with $26.6 million over the weekend and $40 million since it opened last Wednesday. Although not the mega-hit some had thought it might be, it’s still a pretty okay start and it should continue to have decent play of the Christmas period.

After expanding their screen count massively, both American Hustle and Saving Mr. Banks made their first appearance in the top 10 in fourth and fifth spot, with $19.1 million and $9.3 million respectively. It means that Hustle is playing ahead of expectations, which is likely to help its Oscar chances, while Saving Mr. Banks is probably going to need a few awards nods if it’s going to turn into a significant US hit.

Walking With Dinosaurs failed to attract much of an audience, earning just $7.3 million in its first three days. Although it will continue to play over Christmas, it’s still likely to be seen as a significant failure.

More impressive was Dhoom 3, which may have earned only around half of what Walking With Dinosaurs did, but it did so on less than 10% of the screens the dino movie had. It’s $3.3 million weekend is a record for a Bollywood movie in the US, which very rarely make the top 10.

Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of December 20th-22nd 2013.

Rank	Title	Weekend Gross (millions)	Total Gross to date (millions)
1	The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug	$31.4	$127.5
2	Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues	$26.7	$40.0
3	Frozen	$19.1	$191.5
4	American Hustle	$19.1	$20.2
5	Saving Mr. Banks	$9.3	$9.9
6	The Hunger Games: Catching Fire	$8.7	$321.7
7	Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas	$8.5	$28.2
8	Walking With Dinosaurs	$7.3	$7.3
9	Dhoom 3	$3.3	$3.3
10	Thor: The Dark World	$1.3	$200.7

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
FILMS: The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug, Anchorman 2, Frozen, American Hustle, Saving Mr. Banks, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Walking With Dinosaurs: The 3D Movie, Thor: The Dark Worlds

The Hobbit Desolates The US Box Office With $73 Million

December 16, 2013 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

There was little doubt that The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug would top the US box office this weekend. The only question was how much it would take. There was a lot of disagreement going into the weekend, with some suggesting it could take as much as $80 million, while others thought it would struggle to make $70 million.

In the end it made a strong but not as spectacular as some had expected $73.6 million. It’s certainly not a disaster, and with a strong international showing it’s likely to end up grossing around the same as the billion pounds the first movie took worldwide. It’s also true that the film faced strong holdovers from Catching Fire and Frozen, which may have affected it opening, but it should make up some US ground over the coming week.

The only other new opener was Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas, which disappointed with $16 million. Most of Perry’s other Madea movies have had $25+ million openings, so despite the festive theme, it seems audiences aren’t that interested.

Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of December 13th-15th.

Rank	Title	Weekend Gross (millions)	Total Gross to date (millions)
1	The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug	$73.6	$73.6
2	Frozen	$22.1	$164.3
3	Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas	$16.0	$16.0
4	The Hunger Games: Catching Fire	$13.1	$356.9
5	Thor: The Dark World	$2.7	$198.1
6	Out Of The Furnace	$2.3	$9.4
7	Delivery Man	$1.8	$27.9
8	Philomena	$1.7	$11.0
9	The Book Thief	$1,6	$14.8
10	Homefront	$1.6	$18.4

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
FILMS: The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug, Frozen, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Thor: The Dark World, Out Of The Furnace, Delivery Man, Philomena, The Book Thief, Homefront

Frozen Sneaks Past Catching Fire To Top The US Box Office

December 9, 2013 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Frozen had a great opening over the Thanksgiving holiday, but even so it ended up second on the US box office chart due to the continuing success of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. However this weekend the roles were reversed as Frozen snuck past Catching Fire with $31 million versus Hunger Games 2’s $27 million.

It’s good news for Disney as it’s one of the best holds following Thanksgiving ever and suggests the movie will continue to do well going into Christmas.

The only new entry on the chart was the Christian Bale starrer Out Of The Furnace, which may have placed third, but still tanked pretty badly taking just $5.3 million. Some had thought the movie might be an awards contender, but it’s unlikely it’ll be in the running and will probably end up a complete flop, especially as it seems to be getting pretty lousy word of mouth.

Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of December 6th-9th.

Rank	Title	Weekend Gross (millions)	Total Gross to date (millions)
1	Frozen	$31.6	$134.2
2	The Hunger Games: Catching Fire	$27.0	$336.6
3	Out Of The Furnace	$5.3	$5.3
4	Thor: The Dark World	$4.7	$193.6
5	Delivery Man	$3.7	$24.7
6	Homefront	$3.3	$15.2
7	The Book Thief	$2.7	$12.0
8	The Best Man Holiday	$2.6	$67.2
9	Philomena	$2.2	$8.2
10	Dallas Buyers Club	$1.4	$12.4

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
FILMS: Frozen, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Out Of The Furnace, Thor: The Dark World, Delivery Man, Homefront, The Book Thief, The Best Man Holiday, Philomena, Dallas Buyers Club

The Hunger Games Catches Fire At The US Box Office, Setting A November Record

November 25, 2013 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

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

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
FILMS: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Thor: The Dark World, Delivery Man, Free Birds, Last Vegas, Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa, Gravity, 12 Years A Slave, Dallas Buyers Club

Hunger Games: Catching Fire Stud Alan Ritchson Suggests Underwear Modelling Past Helped With The Film

November 20, 2013 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

hunger-games-quarter-quell-poster11 The makers of The Hunger Games have obviously realised that filling the films with hot guys doesn’t hurt. For Catching Fire Josh Hutcherson and Luke Hemsworth are joined by the likes of Sam Claflin, Jack Quaid, and Alan Ritchson.

As many noted when Smallville actor Ritchson was cast, the extremely buff 28-year-old used to do underwear modelling, and it appears that helped ensure he wasn’t as self-conscious in some scenes as others were.

He tells E! News, “For me, I’d walk out in a thong thinking, ‘I’m in costume.’ It’s like, ‘Hey, I’m ready for the death scene,’ and they’d be like, ‘Uh, we can see part of your crotch.'”

However he did have some qualms about the skintight costumes they had to wear into the arena, due to all the food he’d been eating, “It was awful. You know what it’s like going home and wanting to eat some good soul food in Atlanta and having to squeeze my greasy, fried-chicken self into that thing every morning? It was terrible. It was a pretty nuts costume.

“Everybody’s in it though so you don’t feel too bad. But everybody was like, ‘Do I look fat in this?'”

One problem did arise with what the guys were wearing under their skintight costumes. “We walked out there in boxer-briefs,” Ritchson says, “but they were like, ‘You can see everything underneath that. You need to put on this thong, dance-belt kind of thing.'”

Eventually the guys ended up in cycling shorts. We’ll be able to see whether that successfully hid everything now that Catching Fire is due in cinemas.

And if you’re wondering about Ritchson’s underwear modelling past, get an eyeful below (click for a proper view). [Read more…]

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
ACTORS: Alan Ritchson FILMS: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

New Clip From The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Online – Katniss’ job is to be a distraction

November 8, 2013 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

It’s just a couple of weeks until The Hunger Games: Catching Fire hits cinemas, and now we’ve got a clip of Haymitch (Woody Harrelson) telling Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) exactly what her new position in life is supposed to be.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE begins as Katniss Everdeen has returned home safe after winning the 74th Annual Hunger Games along with fellow tribute Peeta Mellark. Winning means that they must turn around and leave their family and close friends, embarking on a “Victor’s Tour” of the districts. Along the way Katniss senses that a rebellion is simmering, but the Capitol is still very much in control as President Snow prepares the 75th Annual Hunger Games (The Quarter Quell) – a competition that could change Panem forever.

‘THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE is directed by Francis Lawrence, and produced by Nina Jacobson’s Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik. The novel on which the film is based is the second in a trilogy that has over 50 million copies in print in the U.S. alone. THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE opens on November 22, 2013.’ [Read more…]

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
ACTORS: Jennifer Lawrence, Woody Harrelson DIRECTORS: Francis Lawrence FILMS: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Final Hunger Games: Catching Fire Trailer – Katniss is back in the arena very soon

October 28, 2013 By Tim Isaac 1 Comment

It’s just a few weeks until the November 22nd release of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and now there’s a final trailer, showing off the action and excitement. While earlier promos have concentrated on the early parts of the movie, this one takes us straight into the jungle arena and suggests it’s going to be just as dangerous as last time.

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
ACTORS: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Sam Claflin DIRECTORS: Francis Lawrence FILMS: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Jennifer Lawrence Brandishes Her Bow In The Final Hunger Games: Catching Fire Poster

September 30, 2013 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

hunger-games-catching-fire-poster2 It’s just under two months until we can go back into the arena when The Hunger Games: Catching Fire hits cinemas on November 22nd. Now the final poster is here, with Jennifer Lawrence looking pretty badass while brandishing her bow.

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
ACTORS: Jennifer Lawrence FILMS: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire