Weekend Box-Office: April 6-8, 2012

Still got the Hunger for cash!

As many Americans celebrate Easter by consuming chocolate objects, marshmallow critters and cooked animal parts, Katniss Everdeen spent the weekend slaughtering her way to the top of the box office for the third week in a row.

THE HUNGER GAMES locked another $33.5 million into the Capitol’s vaults this weekend, putting its US total over the $300M mark (plus $150M or so gathered internationally).

Any concerns that the movie wouldn’t be a legit smash can probably be put to rest, along with constant comparisons to the TWILIGHT franchise now that the futuristic death contest has officially passed any entry in the sparkle-vamp series. At least in North America, anyway — THE HUNGER GAMES still has a stretch before it can outdo NEW MOON’s $709M worldwide haul.

As usual, the sequels will cost more but could end up surpassing THE HUNGER GAMES at the box office since the first movie undoubtedly brought in a whole new audience beyond the books’ readership.  How CATCHING FIRE and the other eventual sequels (MOCKINGJAY Pt. 1 & 2?) will turn out creatively will remain the question, now that filmmaker Gary Ross supposedly won’t be back to continue the film franchise he helped launch.

Rounding up pastry molester Jason Biggs and his gang for AMERICAN REUNION didn’t prove to be more appealing to crowds than the carnage in Panem, but the AMERICAN PIE sequel placed second with $21.5 million (quite a ways below AMERICAN WEDDING’s $33M opening back in 2003). Expect yet more direct-to-video cheapie sequels with Eugene Levy as the connecting tissue. Plus bodily fluids, obviously.

The King of the World slapped an extra dimension onto the famous ship tragedy (which happened 100 years ago this month), but TITANIC 3D was adrift in third with $17.3M and $25.7M total since it left dock on Wednesday. Still, the post-conversion reportedly cost less than $20M (unsurprising, given James Cameron’s experience and investment in the format), which seems like a reasonable commitment for one of history’s biggest moneymakers.

WRATH OF THE TITANS is reeling from the wrath of relative disinterest in America, but its $15M second weekend and $58M domestic total don’t look as bad when the $150+ million international box office is taken into account. The same can’t be said for Tarsem Singh’s vivid fairy tale MIRROR MIRROR, which has yet to collect half of its $85M budget in the US and isn’t catching a whole lot of business abroad.

21 JUMP STREET crossed the $100 million mark this week, but things just get kind of sad after that — the last three movies on the list couldn’t even break seven figures. Lurking just outside the Top 10, Sony’s release of the ass-kicking Indonesian action flick THE RAID arrived on another 130 screens to bring its limited-release total to $1.2M.

Next week brings the long-awaited Joss Whedon-written/produced horror tale A CABIN IN THE WOODS, while Guy Pearce heads into space to save Maggie Grace in the Luc Besson-written/produced LOCKOUT, Kurt Russell hits the field in the football drama TOUCHBACK, and the Farrelly Brothers make a trio of corpses grave-spin with a new THE THREE STOOGES. What’s your favorite movie produced, written and/or directed by Luc Besson? VOTE HERE!