'Doctor Who' 50th Anniversary Special makes $10.2 Million Globally in theaters, beating 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire'
The BBC's Doctor Who 50th anniversary special episode, "The Day of the Doctor," was presented in movie theaters over the weekend and ended up brining in $10.2 million in the box office. In fact, the 75-minute special even beat out blockbuster powerhouse The Hunger Games: Catching Fire with higher per-screen averages on Monday. "The Day of the Doctor' brought in about $4.7 million on Monday, selling around 320,000 tickets.
The Hollywood Reporter broke this news. Here is an excerpt from the story:
It made the BBC sci-fi evergreen's anniversary episode the second-biggest cinema attraction of the day after The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, it said. Also in the U.S., Doctor Who beat out the rest of the Monday competition with an estimated $7,155 per-location average, according to BBC Worldwide. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which played in 4,163 U.S. locations, posted a $2,623 per-location average.
"The Day of the Doctor" was the number one episode on U.S. iTunes and the number on episode on U.S Amazon's television chart within 24 hours of the november 23 release. This anniversary special also became the most downloaded episode of 2013 for BBC Worldwide on iTunes, based on the first day of sale.
According research firm IHS Screen Digest, "The Day of the Doctor" is "the most successful non-movie alternative content piece ever seen at European cinemas."
Have you watched "The Day of the Doctor" yet? It looks like plenty of other people already have!