Those who follow the “Hunger Games” franchise, were able to get their fix as “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” opened this weekend.

“Catching Fire” opened with $161.1 million at the domestic weekend box office, according to the studio estimates sunday. Becoming the biggest NOvember debut ever.

All though the film fell short of its original expectations, of beating out the opening of “Iron Man 3” with 174 million. Though worldwide “Catching Fire” took in a total of $307.7 million.

“Catching Fire” appeals to a large spectrum, and has a much larger audience bases than many other movies, which is why expectations were so high.

“When the first film was released, there was this idea that it was going to appeal largely to young girls,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for box-office tracker Rentrak. “But over time, it’s skewing back toward male audiences. There’s actually a lot of action, there’s violence in the movie. It’s crossing over to a much broader base.”

According to Nbcphiladelphia.com, the domestic opening for “Catching Fire” is the fourth best ever, following “The Avengers ($207 million), “Iron Man 3” and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II” ($169 million).

Though, record keeping has become increasingly difficult in recent years at the box office, due to higher priced 3-D movies or IMAX screenings, which can boost the revenue, as can early screenings. Although, “Catching Fire,” which has earned a total of 8 percent of its gross from IMAX showings, collected $25 million from Thursday night screenings among its weekend total.

In March of 2012, the original “Hunger Games” earned $152.5 million in its opening weekend, although it didn’t debut until midnight screenings on Thursday.

“It’s really become a phenomenon,” said David Spitz, head of distribution for Lionsgate. “We’ve established now a better opening than the first, and now we’re entering into the Thanksgiving and Christmas period, which is very, very lucrative.”

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak.

1. “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” $161.1 million ($146.6 million international).

2. “Thor: The Dark World,” $14.1 million ($24.8 million international).

3. “The Best Man Holiday,” $12.5 million.

4. “Delivery Man,” $8.2 million ($1.2 million international).

5. “Free Birds,” $5.3 million ($575,000 international).

6. “Last Vegas,” $4.4 million ($2.4 million international).

7. “Bad Grandpa,” $3.5 million ($2.4 million international).

8. “Gravity,” $3.3 million ($46.6 million international).

9. “12 Years a Slave,” $2.8 million.

10. “Dallas Buyers Club,” $2.8 million.