Weekend Box-Office: April 13-15, 2012

Hunger Games starve the Stooges!

The odds may not ever be in favor of THE HUNGER GAMES, but after four weeks those odds are still looking pretty good.

Three new wide releases arrived in theaters this weekend, but Katniss slayed them all and climbed the pile of bodies with another $21.5 million for THE HUNGER GAMES, bringing the domestic total to an impressive $337M and crossing the $500M mark in global figures. With the departure of director Gary Ross, Lionsgate is currently searching for a replacement to bring them similar success with the sequel CATCHING FIRE. No pressure there!

Nyuk nyuk nyuk. While the Farrelly Brothers didn’t have any notable names portraying their buffoon trio, they did benefit from the brand recognition of THE THREE STOOGES, and the slapstick flick managed a second place finish with $17.1 million. That number obviously might have been higher if the revival had gone ahead with the Farrellys’ original planned cast of Benicio del Toro, Sean Penn and Jim Carrey. But then, the budget also would’ve surely been higher than the $30M that the no-star version reportedly cost.

After being stuck in a vault for a couple of years, THE CABIN IN THE WOODS finally made it to screens and scared up $14.8 million. The R-rated horror movie, from Joss Whedon and his “Buffy”/”Angel” comrade Drew Goddard, was filmed in 2009 (before star Chris Hemsworth wielded the hammer of THOR) but fell victim to studio MGM’s financial woes before Lionsgate grabbed it. Lionsgate probably didn’t figure they would have to compete with their own release THE HUNGER GAMES after a month, but it still probably feels good to have two movies in the top three…

The other new wide release, the Luc Besson-produced sci-fi actioner LOCKOUT, got jettisoned into the void of ninth place with just $6.2 million, putting it behind several other movies that have been in theaters for quite a while (including 21 JUMP STREET, still strong after five weeks). It doesn’t look like we’ll be seeing the return of Guy Pearce’s Space Plissken a la Besson’s TRANSPORTER.

The 3D reissue of TITANIC is keeping afloat better than the actual boat (or AMERICAN REUNION, for that matter), netting another $11.6M for a $44.4M total. But as filmmaker James Cameron has stated, the re-release was really more for the benefit of audiences in various overseas territories, where there are now many more theaters than when the movie first set sail fifteen years ago. Looks like he was right — TITANIC 3D has brought in another $150M or so globally. Between the reissue’s ticket sales and the original 1997 release, the movie has generated over $2 billion at the box office, joining Cameron’s own AVATAR as the only other movie to do so.

Speaking of seaworthy vessels and international crowds, the US won’t get the big-budget board-game adaptation of BATTLESHIP until May 18th, but the movie has already opened this weekend in various other territories, and Taylor Kitsch’s fight to free the oceans of extreterrestrial invaders has brought in around $60M.

This week is also a vacation from school for much of America’s youth, so dwindling movies like MIRROR MIRROR, WRATH OF THE TITANS and THE LORAX could have one last gasp from kiddies and teens desperate for theatrical entertainment before the summer movie season officially kicks off in a couple of weeks with THE AVENGERS.

Next week brings the Zac Efron romance THE LUCKY ONE as the biggest release, along with the comedy THINK LIKE A MAN and Disney’s primate documentary CHIMPANZEE. Plus there’s the IMAX-only documentary TO THE ARCTIC. Unless the ladies come out in full force for Efron, the odds could be in THE HUNGER GAMES favor for yet another weekend. What’s your favorite Farrelly Brothers movie? VOTE HERE!