'Hunger Games' has record-breaking opening weekend

"The Hunger Games" has filled fan appetites with a $155 million opening weekend that puts it near the top of the domestic record book, The Associated Press reports.

The huge haul marks the third-best debut in terms of revenue, behind the $169.2 million opening for last year's "Harry Potter" finale and the $158.4 million opening of 2008's "The Dark Knight." "The Hunger Games" set a revenue record for a nonsequel, taking in more than twice what the first "Twilight" movie did with its $69.6 million opening weekend.

"This is the birth of a franchise. To launch in this fashion is mind-boggling," said David Spitz, head of distribution at Lionsgate, which now also owns the "Twilight" franchise.

Fans camped out for the first screenings of "The Hunger Games," which began just after midnight Friday. Many fans dressed as favorite characters from the story.

"That type of behavior puts it on the level of the 'Star Treks' and 'Star Wars,' " Spitz said. "I was so excited to see how everyone was responding to the material and how ecstatic they were to be a part of it."

Though it features a female lead, "The Hunger Games" drew more balanced crowds than the "Twilight" flicks, with girls and women accounting for 61 percent of audiences, according to Lionsgate. Fans 25 and older made up 56 percent of the crowds.

Jennifer Lawrence stars as one of 24 youths forced to compete in a televised death match in a post-apocalyptic North American society.

The film is based on the first novel in the best-selling trilogy by Suzanne Collins. Lionsgate plans to release the sequel, "Catching Fire," in November 2013 and hopes to do the finale, "Mockingjay," as a two-part film installment.