Box Office: 'Catching Fire' Tops Biggest Thanksgiving Weekend Ever

Credit: Lionsgate

For the second week in a row, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire claimed the No. 1 spot at the weekend box office. But the news wasn't just good for The Hunger Games, it was a strong weekend for the film industry as a whole, as this was the biggest Thanksgiving weekend on record.

Catching Fire grossed $110.2 million over the five-day holiday, becoming the top earning Thanksgiving title of all time after racing past the $82.4 million gross of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. But the film didn't have the entire weekend box office to itself: Disney's Frozen, which opened Wednesday, delivered the biggest Thanksgiving debut of all time with a five-day gross of $93 million, overtaking the $80.1 million debut of Toy Story 2 in 1999.

It was a bit of a steep drop-off from there, but no less solid.

Thor: The Dark World came in at No. 3 with $15.5 million domestically for the five-day period, bringing its domestic total to $186.7 million. The Best Man Holiday came in at No. 4, with a healthy $11.8 million. Its domestic gross is now an impressive $64 million. Even last week's big disappointment, DreamWorks and Disney's Vince Vaughn dramedy Delivery Man, sprung to life. The movie raked in $9.8 million over the five-day weekend, bringing its total to $19.5 million in North America. The film is now basically guaranteed to make back its $22 million production budget, a prospect that didn't seem so certain after last weekend's underwhelming opening.

As for new arrivals, the news was mixed: Homefront, the action thriller starring Jason Statham and James Franco, came in at No. 6 with a healthy $9.8 million over the five-day weekend. Meanwhile, Spike Lee's Oldboy, starring Josh Brolin and Elizabeth Olsen, completely bombed in its domestic debut, earning just $1.2 million for the five-day period. The news was similarly grim for Black Nativity, the ensemble holiday drama based on a play by Langston Hughes, which brought in only $5 million in its debut. The film, which stars Forest Whitaker, Angela Bassett, Tyrese Gibson, Jennifer Hudson and Mary J. Blige, faced tough competition from The Best Man Holiday, which pundits theorize split its target African-American audience.

It was better news for 20th Century Fox's The Book Thief, which claimed the No. 7 spot on strong word of mouth, earning $6.4 million. The news was similarly good for Stephen Frears' critically acclaimed Philomena, which came in at No. 9 with a five-day gross of $4.6 million.

The full top 10:

1) Hunger Games: Catching Fire ($110 million)

2) Frozen ($90 million)

3) Thor: The Dark World ($14.4 million)

4) The Best Man Holiday ($11.8 million)

5) Delivery Man ($8.8 million)

6) Homefront ($8.77 million)

7) The Book Thief ($6 million)

8) Black Nativity ($5 million)

9) Philomena ($4 million)

10) Last Vegas ($3.6 million)

Via: Deadline / The Hollywood Reporter