Box Office: 'Hunger Games' slays competition and breaks records

In this weekend's box office battle to the death, "The Hunger Games" has emerged the clear victor. With $155 million in ticket sales, the Jennifer Lawrence-led film has scored the third-best opening weekend of all time, behind only the final "Harry Potter" and "The Dark Knight.'

That means, of course, that "Hunger Games" destroyed "Alice In Wonderland's" record for the highest grossing opening weekend for a non-sequel. It's also already Lionsgate's highest grossing film ever -- and it's only the first week.

With word-of-mouth and critical response to the film strong, Lionsgate can expect continued success.

The rest of the Top 12 is as follows, with weekend gross followed by total gross.

1     The Hunger Games     $155,000,000     $155,000,000    
2     21 Jump Street         $21,300,000     $71,051,000
3     Dr. Seuss' The Lorax     $13,100,000     $177,300,000    
4     John Carter             $5,014,000          $62,347,000    
5     Act of Valor              $2,062,000         $65,942,000    
6     Project X              $1,950,000          $51,752,000    
7     A Thousand Words          $1,925,000          $14,926,000    
8     October Baby (2012)     $1,718,000          $1,718,000    
9     Safe House     Uni.         $1,400,000         $122,600,000    
10     Journey 2: The Mysterious Island     $1,373,000          $97,155,000
11     Casa De Mi Padre         $1,100,000          $3,948,000    
12     This Means War         $1,000,000         $52,285,000