HUNGER GAMES : IMPACT ON BOX OFFICE

H2BWOOD

HUNGER GAMES

Lionsgate has turned an important corner as a company, thanks in no small part to the record-smashing success of Hunger Games, which grossed $152.5 million in its first weekend of domestic release. That tally, plus the series best premiere ratings Sunday of the Lionsgate produced Mad Men on AMC and the continued success of the Twilight Saga films (Breaking Dawn sold an impressive 3.2 million units in its first weekend in home entertainment release), has marked a turnaround for a company that a year or two ago had struggled with a series of flops and was under siege by investor Carl Icahn, who wanted to break it up.



While Icahn was still a factor, “no one was even interested in evaluating this for the last couple years,” said James Marsh. “It wasn’t until Carl decided to get out that people decided to come back and take a fresh look at it. The timing of Hunger Games made that a lot easier. Lionsgate is going to go where Hunger Games goes. It’s like taping a frog onto a model rock.!!