"Hunger Games" prevails

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Writer: Elaine Ewe

Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks) and Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) in "The Hunger Games".

18 Apr – It does not look like that the cravings for Gary Ross' phenomenal blockbuster "The Hunger Games" will subside anytime soon, at least, not until Joss Whedon's highly-anticipated superhero epic "Marvel's The Avengers" releases next weekend. Although no new films turned out to be formidable tributes, which left "The Hunger Games" to chart first in the US box office for the fourth consecutive weekend (12 – 15 Apr), with the total gross of $336.7 million to date, there are a few worthy additions in the film market, such as The Farrelly Brothers' "The Three Stooges" and Joss Whedon's "The Cabin In The Woods". The former is a slapstick comedy film based on the early to mid-20th century shorts by the comedic trio The Three Stooges. Its three leads, played by Chris Diamantopoulos, Sean Hayes and Will Sasso may not be big name stars, but they managed to pull in a decent enough audience, helped along by humorous promotional efforts. Meanwhile, the latter movie by Whedon is a stark contrast to "The Three Stooges" crude humour, which also stars "Thor" himself, Chris Hemsworth as one of the five college students who drive down for a vacation in a remote cabin in the woods, only to uncover a more sinister plot at hand.

If only fictional audiences in "The Hunger Games" are like Malaysians, which would perchance see the games being eliminated entirely due to their short-lived interest. Instead, audiences in Malaysia have opted for Peter Berg's science fiction naval war film "Battleship", starring Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgård, Brooklyn Decker, Rihanna, and Liam Neeson as naval officers (save Brooklyn Decker) who have to battle a group of aliens and end threat of invasion. Singaporean comedy "We Not Naughty" continued its second place run while in third place is James Cameron's 3D re-release of the epic romantic historical disaster "Titanic", with recreated scenes.

"Battleship" also blew its box office competitors out of the water in Singapore, which resulted in its top spot opening. Its success can be attributed to its star-studded cast, which included Barbadian singer Rihanna in her acting debut. Coming in second was "Mirror Mirror" in its second week after its opening, while "Titanic" picked up speed and edged "The Hunger Games" out from third. For those who have forgotten, the film stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as two members of different social classes who fall in love aboard the ship during its ill-fated maiden voyage.

In Malaysia, the only other new release over the weekend was "Oru Kal Oru Kannadi".

For Singapore, other releases were "Dark Flight", "The Awakening", "Perfect Two", "Street Dance 2" and "Bittoo Boss".

Box office takings for the weekend just gone (13 April - 15 April 2012)
Malaysia 1) Battleship 2) We Not Naughty 3) Titanic 3D 4) Street Dance 5) Wrath Of The Titans 6) Dark Flight 7) Oru Kal Oru Kannadi 8) Mirror Mirror 9) 3 10) The Hunger Games	Singapore 1) Battleship 2) Mirror Mirror 3) Titanic 3D 4) The Vow 5) American Pie : Reunion 6) The Hunger Games 7) Wrath of the Titans 8) Dark Flight 9) Street Dance 2 10) The Awakening