I will say there is certainly talk of Hunger Games in elementary schools. My 8 year old 3rd grader asked me about it, and that definitely came from school. I would not let her read the books at her age (she is sensitive and also not a good enough reader yet), but some kids not much older are.

Ha! Fair assumption considering it broke a shit ton of box office records.

It started making a profit on its production budget with the Saturday matinees, so I'd imagine there was a Brady Bunchopening credits-style conference call among studio execs by dinnertime.

I see fandom from a really biased angle, so I don't actually know--are teenaged girls really the key to riches? I mean, if Hunger Games is battling for a Twilight record, is that the demographic from which everything else starts? Even if it's not actually teenaged girls spending all the money, is it the works that are initially written with them as the key audience that have the best chance of making lots of money?

If so, why?

Teen girls are very obsessive. I'm not sure why, but they are. That leads to lots of money.

A partial list of teen-and-preteen-girl-obsession money-makers:

Justin Bieber
Boy bands in general (One Direction is the big one right now)
Miley Cyrus
Titanic (yes, others liked it and saw it too, but it was the three-peat teen girls that pushed it so high)
The aforementioned Twilight

I'm not sure teen girls are the only key to riches. They didn't see The Dark Knight much, which still holds a bunch of records. And I doubt they saw Avatar dozens of times each, either. Fandom types are also obsessive, so comic book fantasy type movies do well. If you bridge the two, as The Hunger Games does, then you are doing just great.

are teenaged girls really the key to riches?

Teenagers are the key to riches. The teenage boys will get their turn this summer. It was a record-setting weekend, but there is a big caveat:

Making history, Lionsgate's The Hunger Games opened to an astounding $155 million at the domestic box office, the third-best debut of all time and the best for any film opening outside of summer.

Films aimed at teenaged girls are still getting relegated to a Spring opening, while films for teenaged boys still get the choice Summer opening dates. I'll bet that the Avengers will have a bigger opening, and Batman having a shot at it, too.

Yeah, I don't think teen-girl movies are typically the biggest grossing. But non-action/sci fi movies without big stars have got to be cheaper to make, so more likely to turn a profit?

I think what the Hunger Games has going for it is broad appeal.

I think what the Hunger Games has going for it is broad appeal.

I agree. I think what they're counting on there is the crossover appeal, like with Harry Potter -- the teens will want to go, but so will some of their parents.

Fandom types are also obsessive

I don't think your average fandom type is much of a key to anything, but I might be defining fandom differently. Is it fandom that made Avatar break records, or its mass appeal?

Basically, I'm wondering which target demographic has the best making it big with everyone potential. I don't think that the teenaged girls (or boys) are where the money is actually being made.

From looking at the stats for Hunger Games, it looks like it does better crossover-wise than Twilight did, hitting more men and more older viewers.

I'm wondering if a good story technically aimed at teenaged girls tends to appeal to a) more grownup girls and b) more people in general than a good story technically aimed at teenaged boys appeals to a wider age range as well as more people.

I kind of doubt The Avengers will break $155 million opening weekend. Iron Man 2 only got $128 million opening weekend. I bet The Avengers will get around $140-$150. Batman could do it, though I think The Dark Knight got a bit of a boost from the untimely passing of Heath Ledger that may not make it to the third movie: though I've met a lot of people who really loved The Dark Knight, including many on this board, I've also met a bunch of less-fandom-y types who were not in love with it, finding it kind of long, confusing, and, naturally, depressing. I think the opening weekend may be disappointing, at least compared to the shattering that was TDK.

What astounds me about the Hunger Games statistics is that it's so cross-demographic and NOT teenage-girl-heavy. Breaking Dawn Part 1 was 80% female and way more than 50% under-25. The Hunger Games was 61% female and 56% over the age of 25. Teen girls are only part of their demographic. I think it will have an astonishing second weekend, possibly a box office record.

I don't think that the teenaged girls (or boys) are where the money is actually being made.

Conventional marketing wisdom says that because teens don't have bills to pay, all of their income is disposable so they spend more on entertainment than adults. But "conventional wisdom" is frequently wrong.