‘The Hunger Games’ Help Lionsgate Earn $1 Billion At The Box Office

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire helped the folks at Lionsgate generate upwards of $1 billion in ticket sales over the course of 2013.

The studio certainly enjoyed a banner year thanks to the highly-anticipated sequel to Gary Ross’ 2012 box office hit. This is the second year in a row that Lionsgate made $1 billion in North America, a feat that is usually reserved for Hollywood’s largest studios.

In addition to director Francis Lawrence’s sequel to The Hunger Games, Lionsgate got a little help in the box office success department from director Louis Leterrier’s Now You See Me. This summer’s sleeper hit generated a surprising $117 million in the US alone. When you figure in foreign grosses, that total rises to a deeply impressive $351 million.

Of course, Catching Fire was no slouch either. The second installment based on Suzanne Collins’ popular young adult novels grossed $372 million in North America. Internationally the sequel has presently made $765 million, a number that could reach $800 million before the flick disappears from theaters.

“Our strong box office performance for the second year in a row, domestically and internationally, underscores the consistency of our film slate and is a testament to the tireless efforts of our entire motion picture team,” Lionsgate said in a recent press release.

The studio continued, “We continue to do more with less, maintaining our commitment to a disciplined financial model that is focused on limiting production capital at risk. We’re especially pleased to achieve contributions from our entire portfolio of films this year.”

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Now You See Me weren’t the studio’s only strong performers this year. Lionsgate also enjoyed quite a bit of business from Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain and the Spanish-language flick Instructions Not Included.

The Inquisitr previously reported that Catching Fire was one of the highest-grossing films of 2013. The film’s $765 million international gross helped it compete with the likes of Fast and Furious 6, Iron Man 3, and the animated family flick Despicable Me 2.

Lionsgate’s success at the worldwide box office is likely to continue throughout 2014 as well. Not only will the studio unveil The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, the studio will drop the star-studded sequel The Expendables 3 on the movie-going masses. If you missed the teaser trailer for the former, check out the clip below.

Are you surprised that Lionsgate managed to cross the $1 billion mark domestically with some help from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Now You See Me?