The Hunger Games Box Office Numbers Might Eclipse Twilight (See What I Did There?)

Could fans of The Hunger Games overtake the squee of Twihards? Going by the numbers Fandango brought in yesterday, when tickets for the movie went on sale a month before its release, it sure looks that way. The sales were so big that it actually surpassed previous record-breaking advance sales for Twilight: Eclipse. So now we’re left to wonder: What do we call raging fans of The Hunger Games before detractors start calling them “The Hunger Lames”? Hunger Dames for the girls? Tributes? Should we have a survey? No? Okay.

The Hunger Games opens on March 23 in the United States and the United Kingdom, and we don’t have to tell you: people are excited. People of all ages and both genders. You can’t really say there’s a typical Hunger Games fan the way some have pigeonholed fans of Twilight. And something with this much appeal is sure to bring in some very big numbers at the box office next month.

Rick Butler, the executive vice president of Fandango, said that The Hunger Games pretty much blew up their site yesterday, making up 83 percent of all their sales and scoring “the biggest first day advance ticket sales in our company’s nearly 12-year history.” Two things that usually work against these kinds of numbers? The fact that this is a March release and not a sequel.

However, you can’t say that The Hunger Games doesn’t have a built-in audience. And think of all the people who plan on seeing the movie, but didn’t buy their tickets in advance. Yeah, I think we can expect to see an announcement for Catching Fire pretty soon.

But also: Less than one month, everyone.

(via Digital Spy)

Previously in The Hunger Games

• The Best of CafePress’ New Official Hunger Games Merchandise Store
• Hey, Want to See Katniss Shoot an Apple? You Know, That Apple?
• Gale Just Wants to Help Katniss Prepare For the Hunger Games. No, Really! [Video]