Having the biggest opening weekend of the year wasn’t enough to keep ‘Iron Man 3’ in the number one spot for the year, being surpassed last minute by the second film in the ‘Hunger Games’ franchise, ‘Catching Fire’.

‘Iron Man 3’ left the box office with a grand total of $409 million at the domestic box office, a wide lead over the next film, ‘Despicable Me 2’, which came in at $368 million.  But the later release ‘Hunger Games’ film was a quick success, not beating Tony Stark’s opening weekend but having steady financial success and rave reviews.  As of January 9th (Yes, that’s in 2014, but you have to give later release film as much time at the box office as earlier released films) ‘Catching Fire’ has nudged past ‘Iron Man 3’ by almost a half million dollars, making it the highest grossing film of 2013 and the first time the highest grossing film centered around a female character since ‘Titanic’ with Kate Winslet.

Lionsgate Films is incredibly proud of their book-to-film series which, along with the $408 million brought in by the first ‘Hunger Games’, has become the first franchise whose first two films each broke $400 million. Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer said,

The Hunger Games franchise continues to evolve into a truly global phenomenon. We will continue to grow the transformative Hunger Games franchise in the years to come even as we continue to develop a dynamic portfolio of premium new brands.

‘Catching Fire’ has also brought in $428.8 million internationally, bringing its overall total to $838.2 million.  The final installment in the box trilogy, ‘Mockingjay’, is set to follow in the footsteps of Harry Potter and be split into two films, released in November of 2014 and 2015.

The US Box Office Top 10 for 2013

1. Catching Fire ($409.4 million)
2. Iron Man 3 ($409.0)
3. Despicable Me 2 ($368.0)
4. Frozen ($301.5)
5. Man of Steel ($291.1)
6. Monsters University ($268.5)
7. Gravity ($255.8)
8. Fast & Furious 6 ($238.7)
9. Oz: The Great and Powerful ($234.9)
10. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug ($234.2)

More From 92.9 NiN