Box office update: 'Catching Fire' sizzles with $31.3 million Friday

As previously reported, both The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Frozen are headed to record-breaking Thanksgiving weekends at the box office. But Black Friday numbers suggest that both films may be even bigger than originally thought — and both could pull in more than $100 million over the five-day frame!

Catching Fire topped the chart on Friday with a sizzling $31.3 million, which sent it right past the $250 million mark on its eighth day of release. The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises are the only two films to ever reach $250 million faster. Catching Fire is currently on pace for a Friday-to-Sunday weekend in the $75-80 million range, which would trail only The Avengers as the best second weekend of all time. Factoring in the combined $35 million that Catching Fire earned on Wednesday and Thursday, the film may pull in $110-120 million over five days, giving it a total of $290-300 million.

Not far behind, Disney’s animated musical Frozen grossed a gargantuan $26.9 million on Friday (this after earning $26.3 million on Wednesday and Thursday). The film will take in about $70 million over the traditional weekend frame, which would give it about $97 million after its first five days in wide release. Of course, if it notches stronger than expected Saturday and Sunday grosses, Frozen could be looking at a $100 million start.

Three holdovers rounded out the Top 5 on Friday. Thor: The Dark World pulled in $4.5 million, The Best Man Holiday grossed $3.4 million, and Delivery Man delivered $2.7 million. The films are headed for three-day weekends of $12 million, $9 million, and $7 million, respectively.

1. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – $31.3 million

2. Frozen – $26.9 million

3. Thor: The Dark World – $4.5 million

4. The Best Man Holiday – $3.4 million

5. Delivery Man – $2.7 million

Outside the Top 5, newcomers Homefront and Black Nativity are both floundering. Homefront, which stars Jason Statham and Winona Ryder, grossed just $2.6 million for a three-day total of $5.5 million so far. Meanwhile, Black Nativity grossed just $1.6 million on Friday for a terrible $2.7 million total since its Wednesday debut.

After expanding into 1,234 theaters, Fox’s The Book Thief grossed $1.9 million on Friday, giving it $3.5 million after three days and putting it on pace for a weak $6 million gross in five days. Judi Dench’s Philomena expanded into 835 theaters, but it grossed just $1.3 million on Friday and may finish the five-day weekend with a gross of less than $4 million. There are no official daily numbers yet for Spike Lee’s remake Oldboy, but it appears to box office observers that the film may be opening to under $1.5 million in five days from 583 theaters. Ouch.

Check back tomorrow for the full box office report.