The Masses Satisfy Their Hunger

The film adaptation of author Suzanne Collins and her novel series "The Hunger Games" is doing boffo biz at the cineplex.

After pulling in $19.7 million for midnight showings on Thursday night, the top midnight debut ever for a non-sequel, the filn then earned a massive $68.3 million on Friday.

Estimates now have it making some $138 million on this opening weekend, on or around the same amount as last year's "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1". It's expected to easily boast as the highest opening weekend for a non-sequel.

Reviews have also been quite strong with an 87% (7.3/10) on Rotten Tomatoes, a 68/100 on Metacritic, and a glowing 'A' from audiences via CinemaScore.

My sister just informed me that my 19 year old nephew saw the film--and said it was "really good". I consider that high praise considering that I assumed he would have passed on a film like this.