The Hunger Games is poised to be one of the biggest franchises of this decade as the latest installment The Hunger Games: Catching Fire pulls in an estimated $70.5 million from its Friday opening, which includes $25.3 million from Thursday night previews. This is roughly $2.5 million more than the original The Hunger Games earned when it opened in March of 2012 with $67.3 million.

The film currently holds a 98% Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes, and an A rating from audiences taking part in the CinemaScore exit poll. The studio hopes that the film can take the November opening record, with its weekend estimate at over $143 million. 2009's The Twilight Saga: New Moon holds the current November record with $142.8 million. The second and third spots on the November record books are also held by Twilight movies. While the Twilight movies had higher opening day numbers, the films were unable to hold those numbers throughout the weekend, with audiences falling off steadily between Friday and Monday. Experts do not predict those type of frontloaded weekend numbers from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire also opened in 65 overseas territories this weekend, and grossed an additional $64 million internationally, opening #1 in all countries of release. This is double the amount The Hunger Games made during its opening weekend run across the globe.