First Harry Potter, then Twilight, and now Hunger Games. Female authors and female fans are rising.
Based on the enormity of tracking for The Hunger Games, the Lionsgate movie has the potential to score one of the top debuts of all time at the domestic box office.
Rarely does a film generate the sort of numbers that Hunger Games is enjoying. When the movie–based on Suzanne Collins‘ wildly popular young-adult novel–first popped up on tracking two weeks ago, the scores were so good that box-office observers and exhibitors immediately predicted an opening in the $70 million to $100 million range, with most betting on the higher number.
Hunger Games, which opens March 23, is even tracking better than The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1. That film opened in November to $138.1 million, the fifth-best debut of all time domestically.
via THR
To which the writers at ComicBook.com explain as the result of a brilliant marketing campaign from Lionsgate:
Lionsgate’s Marketing. At this point, the marketing campaign for this film should be put in a top 10 ALL TIME. Yes, all time. From an outstanding Twitter campaign, advance showing contests, incorporating charity with the film, and brilliantly releasing photos, interviews, and clips, Lionsgate has transformed the audience for “The Hunger Games. A little over 3 months ago, this film was a niche film that was going to bring in respectable numbers on the backs of hardcore fans. As of today, the audience now includes massively growing numbers of folks that haven’t read the books. And Lionsgate did this on the cheap. They didn’t toss out millions on a Super Bowl Commercial and crash the airwaves with ad after ad (like Disney did with “John Carter”). They did it with new media, and by empowering potential moviegoers. The audience was part of this campaign, and as a result, they’ll see the film out of loyalty. It’s a campaign that will be taught in film schools for years to come—or it should be.
via ComicBook.com
Valid points, all of them, but I still think they, Hollywood, and the entire country are missing something: the rise of the teenage girl.
Just like the teenage boy, and his brother (adult males, age 18-34), have dominated our pop culture landscape since the late 80s, I think we are witnessing the eruption of teenage girls onto the scene.
Some numbers:
Interest among younger women in Hunger Games is now at 45 percent, compared with 36 percent for Breaking Dawn. Among female over the age of 25, interest is 29 percent, versus 27 percent for Breaking Dawn.
One advantage that Hunger Games has over Summit Entertainment’s blockbuster Twilight franchise is male interest.
Monday’s tracking showed that Interest in Hunger Games among males younger than 25 was a healthy 28 percent, compared to 10 percent for Breaking Dawn. Interest among males over 25 was 20 percent, versus 8 percent for the fourth Twilight film.
via THR
The latter numbers show that male interest in female writers with female heroines, like in Hunger Games, can attract growing groups of men.
Even more, the former numbers show that nearly half of all teenage girls in the U.S. want to see this movie, as do nearly one out of three adult females.
Long live the rise of girl culture.