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Young movie fans flocked to screenings of teen cinema phenomenon The Hunger Games at the weekend, as the movie set out to smash box office records.
The post-apocalyptic film was already in the top three for advance sales in the US, according to online retailer Fandango, which was selling 10 tickets for the movie every second, with 2,500 screenings already sold out before it opened.
And Bahrain cinemas also played the movie to packed audiences with reports that the screening received sincere rounds of applause at the end.
"Now I can’t wait for the next one, OMG in some points I was actually shaking, I cried a lot, it was pretty enjoyable," said one 16-year-old fan after the movie. "Everyone clapped at the end."
The Hunger Games is based on the thriller of the same name by US novelist Suzanne Collins, part of a trilogy that has sold 30 million copies worldwide, the latest teen publishing phenomenon in the wake of the Twilight saga.
Set in Panem, a fictional land born of the ashes of a ruined North America, the film stars Jennifer Lawrence as a young girl forced to fight for her life in a Roman coliseum-style televised blood sport - known as The Hunger Games.
Hyped by marketers as a potential new Harry Potter, the movie hit screens in France and across much of Europe on Wednesday, followed by a global release on Thursday and Friday.
*GulfWeekly reviewer Charlie Holding is arriving back in Bahrain today after a holiday in the UK. Find out what his popcorn rating of The Hunger Games will be in next week’s issue.
