The Hunger Games Movies Ranked By Worldwide Box Office – Which Film Delivered The Best Return On Budget?

Based on Suzanne Collins’ novels, The Hunger Games film series is one of the most popular and financially successful franchises, featuring a star-studded cast including Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, and Donald Sutherland. When the first film, The Hunger Games, hit theaters in 2012, it earned widespread critical acclaim and became a major box-office success. Its popularity led to three sequel entries released in 2013, 2014, and 2015, followed by a prequel in 2023.

Now, fans are eagerly waiting for Francis Lawrence’s The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, the sixth installment in the dystopian action franchise, which is slated for a theatrical release on November 20, 2026.

So far, the first five films have collectively grossed a massive $3.35 billion worldwide. Let’s take a look at how each of these films performed at the global box office. Although The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) stands as the highest-grossing entry in the franchise, did it also deliver the best return on budget? Let’s find out which film leads in terms of earnings-to-budget performance.

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The Hunger Games Franchise – Box Office Performance (Worldwide)

Here are the worldwide earnings of all five films in The Hunger Games franchise so far, according to data from Box Office Mojo.

1. The Hunger Games (2012)

• Budget: $78 million
• Worldwide Earnings: $695.2 million

2. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)

• Budget: $130 million
• Worldwide Earnings: $865 million

3. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014)

• Budget: $125 million
• Worldwide Earnings: $758.8 million

4. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015)

• Budget: $160 million
• Worldwide Earnings: $664.9 million

5. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023)

• Budget: $100 million
• Worldwide Earnings: $361.8 million

Earnings-to-Budget Performance

Here are the earnings-to-budget ratios of the five films in The Hunger Games franchise:

1. The Hunger Games (2012): 8.91x
2. Catching Fire (2013): 6.65x
3. Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014): 6.07x
4. Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015): 4.16x
5. The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023): 3.62x

What The Numbers Indicate

Based on the above figures, it’s clear that the first Hunger Games film delivered the strongest return on budget (8.91x), followed by Catching Fire (6.65x). Despite being the highest-grossing entry, Catching Fire falls short of the original in terms of box-office efficiency per budget. On the other hand, the 2023 prequel ranks last in terms of earnings-to-budget performance. It will now be interesting to see where the upcoming installment, Sunrise on the Reaping, lands in comparison to the rest of the franchise in this key box office metric.

What’s The Hunger Games Franchise About?

Set against the backdrop of a harsh, dystopian future, the story centers on a brave girl named Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), who makes it her mission to protect her family. She survives a deadly game and slowly becomes the face of a fight against an unfair system.

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping (2026) – Official Trailer

Stay tuned to Koimoi for more box office updates and stories.

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