'Catching Fire' steams past Disney's strong 'Frozen' at box office

Los Angeles: “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” continued to light up the box office through the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, collecting $110.2 million over five days to surpass a hefty opening for Disney’s new animated film “Frozen,” and bringing its 10-day total to nearly $300 million.

“Frozen,” which critics lavishly praised, recorded ticket sales of $93 million at U.S. and Canadian theaters for the five-day holiday period that began on Wednesday, according to studio estimates compiled by Reuters. That far exceeded industry projections of $63 million for “Frozen” for the long weekend, according to the online site Box Office Mojo.

Records fell as moviegoers flooded theaters, dropping some $294 million at the box office, passing the $290 million spent a year ago over the five-day period. “Catching Fire” and “Frozen” both beat the Thanksgiving box office record of $82.4 million set by “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” in 2001.

Disney’s action film “Thor: The Dark World,” based on the character from its Marvel comic book unit, was third with $15.5 million in ticket sales, according to box office data compiled by Rentrak.

“Frozen,” inspired by “The Snow Queen” fairytale, features the voice of Kristen Bell in the story of a Scandinavian princess intent on finding her sister, the Queen, who has the power to freeze anything with a touch and accidentally sets off a long winter that is destroying their kingdom.

“Catching Fire,” the sequel to the 2012 blockbuster “The Hunger Games,” stars Jennifer Lawrence as heroine Katniss Everdeen, the skilled archer who becomes a beacon of hope for an oppressed society. The movies, distributed by Lions Gate Entertainment, are based on a series of novels by Suzanne Collins.

Source: Reuters