You knew this wouldn’t take long. The first day tickets for The Hunger Games went on sale a month before the film’s release date, and it’s already breaking records.
To be sure, some reports are claiming Hunger sales have already passed the Twilight saga. Obviously, the Twilight comparisons will keep coming no matter how much those involved in the film try to swat them away.
Remember, it’s a relatively easy hook for those unfamiliar with the Games series, but any way you slice it, the first installment of The Hunger Games is well on its way to a big opening weekend.
As the L.A. Times reports, “If early ticket sales mean anything, The Hunger Games is going to be a blockbuster.”
Apparently Games has broken Fandango’s record for the first day a movie’s tickets have been available, and the former record was for, you guessed it, Twilight: Eclipse.
Fandango told the Times that already hundreds of screenings of the film have sold out, and as many die hard fans will do, they’re going to line up at midnight to catch the first showing when March 22 turns into the 23rd.
“The Hunger Games is off to a fantastic start,” Fandango general manager Rick Bulter told Deadline. ”Yesterday we saw the biggest first day advance ticketing sales in our company’s 12-year history – which is especially impressive for a March release and a non-sequel.”
Hunger Games is set in a dystopian future where the 12 districts of Panem have replaced much of what was once known as North America. Two young adults per district are routinely chosen by raffle and forced to risk their lives in the Hunger Games, a ruthless competition in which each contestant tries to kill his or her rivals.
The film, which stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Hemsworth, and Woody Harrelson, is slated to hit theaters on March 23, 2012.
