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Some estimates placed the film at a solid $82 million opening weekend while most fell in the $115 million range. Either of those numbers would have been astonishing, particularly considering that the first Harry Potter film debuted to $90 million while Twilight started with a $69.6 million opening weekend.

On Friday, March 23, 2012, only 13 months after Jennifer Lawrence had put on a beautiful dress and enjoyed great seats at the Academy Awards, The Hunger Games earned $67.3 million. On its opening day. The first movie in the trilogy effectively matched the opening weekend of Twilight in 24 hours. It was only getting started with the impressive box office feats.

Domestic box office for the opening weekend of The Hunger Games was $152.5 million. At the time, it was the third largest debut of all time. Amusingly, it only wound up being the third largest opening weekend of 2012 but that’s a different discussion. Along the way, The Hunger Games claimed the fifth largest single day of box office until that point. It also easily surpassed Alice in Wonderland’s $116.1 million to become the best March opener of all time, a record that should stand for several years. It also beat all Twilight movies in terms of opening weekend as well as every Harry Potter film save for the last one. In other words, The Hunger Games debuted as a franchise at higher levels than the existing ones for the franchises it sought to replace.

There was no end in sight for the immediate and total popularity of The Hunger Games. The title easily exceeded analyst expectations for frontloading, becoming only the 13th title to earn $400 million domestically. It eventually finished with North American box office of $408 million, which was at the time the 11th best box office performance ever.

In terms of global revenue, The Hunger Games has not been quite as strong an earner, unsurprising for the first title in a franchise. It eventually claimed $690 million in global revenue, the eighth best total of the year. Importantly, this was easily the best performance for a new property, besting Pixar’s Brave by over $150 million.

Also, just in case anyone is inclined to believe that The Hunger Games was an isolated incident rather than the first of many franchise blockbusters, consider this. Fandango, the number one fan of the franchise (and understandably so), recently announced interesting poll results. They tested consumers regarding the upcoming blockbusters of 2013. Industry heavyweights such as Iron Man, Star Trek and The Hobbit all have sequels scheduled for release this year. What was the runaway choice for first place? You guessed it. Catching Fire, the sequel to The Hunger Games, appears poised to duplicate if not surpass the epic performance of its predecessor.

The Hunger Games has filled the vacuum.

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