Favourable odds for "Hunger Games"

Writer: Elaine Ewe

(Left) Jennifer Lawrence and (right) Josh Hutcherson as Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark respectively, the tributes for District 12.

27 Mar – Despite being the first film in a three-part sequel, "The Hunger Games" has already surpassed all four installations of the "Twilight" franchise film with just its opening weekend figure of $152.5 million, thus topping the charts for the weekend (22-25 March). Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth managed to tip the odds in their favour with their portrayal of teens trapped in a dystopian world, where a boy and a girl are selected from each of the 12 districts in order to compete to the death in the famed Hunger Games, a battle royale designed for the amusement of the elite in the Capitol and to quell the rebellion of districts, for the winner will bring better welfare for their district. Meanwhile, on a less bloodthirsty scale, "21 Jump Street" which starred Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill as cop buddies ordered to infiltrate a high school came second, followed by family-friendly animated movie "The Lorax" in third.

Similar to the US, "The Hunger Games" rages on in Malaysia, and the movie came out top in a battle between award-winning director Andrew Stanton's "John Carter" and the Kleenex-selling romance between Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams' that is "The Vow". The latter two charted second and third respectively and it seemed that despite the lukewarm reception that "John Carter" received in the US, "The Vow" did not have the edge it needed to take second, considering its recycled premise of a man trying to win his lady love back, with a twist of amnesia. It should be noted that while all three movies had mostly female audiences, "The Hunger Games" appealed to males as well, which in turn, gave it an impressive sales boost.

Indeed, a leaf should be taken from "The Hunger Games" marketing team's book by the team for "John Carter". The folks at Lionsgate certainly went all-out with their budget, building up anticipation for both fans of the book and potential moviegoers who have yet to read it. The world is certainly watching as Singapore is also added to the list with Gary Ross' ("Seabiscuit", "The Tale of Despereaux") film taking top spot once again. Second on the charts was "John Carter", but seeing as "The Vow" only opens on 5 April in Singapore, "The Lorax" took third place.

In Malaysia, other new releases over the weekend were "City Monkey", "Jidin Sengal", "Kadhal Pisase", "Agent Vinod", "Marrying Mr.Perfect", "One For The Money", "Freakonomics", "Love" and "Nightfall".

On the other hand, other releases in Singapore were, "Beauty And The Beast 3D", "Salmon Fishing In The Yemen", "Sleeping Beauty", "Breaking Wind", "A Dangerous Method" and "Agent Vinod".