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The record-smashing tentpole now has a shot at debuting to $170 million, the biggest opening of all time in North America; the pic has earned $334.3 million internationally for a whopping global total of $414.8 million.

The feast is on: "The Hunger Games" has taken in $68.25 million domestically in its first day, a record for a non-sequel. The Friday total for Lionsgate's "The Hunger Games" was the fifth-best opening day ever and puts the movie on track for the best debut weekend ever in March. That record is held by "Alice in Wonderland" with $116.1 million.

Paramount's Tom Cruise starrer Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol has done stellar buisness since opening last Friday in 425 IMAX and other large-format locations before expanding nationwide on Tuesday evening. The Brad Bird-directed film, which introduces Jeremy Renner to the espionage franchise, stayed atop the domestic box office on Friday, grossing a strong $9.7 million for a domestic cume of $42.2 millon. The film is expected to finish Monday--a national holiday--with a domestic cume of nearly $72 million.

New Line and Warner Bros.' s New Year's Eve is on course to gross $6 million to $7 million in its first day of play at the domestic box office, putting it at No. 1. Director Garry Marshall's $56 million star-studded ensemble pic is expected to open in the $20 million range for the weekend, in line with pre-release tracking. While that's far less than the $72 million bow of Marshall's Valentine's Day over the four-day Valentine's Day/President's Day weekend in 2010, Warner Bros. expects the film to have an especially strong multiple and play through New Year's Day since it's the only holiday romantic comedy.

The weekend after Thanksgiving is one of the slowest of the year, and 2011 is no different. With no new wide releases, Summit Entertainment's The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 continued to top the domestic box office, grossing $5.5 million on Friday for a cume of $235.9 million. The pic is on track for a $16.8 million weekend.

In a notable victory for Disney, The Muppets continues to rule over other family films at the Thanksgiving box office, grossing $12.3 million on Friday for a three-day cume of $24.8 million. The pic, which cost a modest $45 million to produce, is now projected to post a Wednesday-Sunday debut of at least $40 million, putting it behind only The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn--Part 1, which grossed $16.9 million on Friday for a cume of roughly $195 million (the pic will jump the $200 million mark sometime on Saturday).

The Halloween threequel is pacing well ahead of the previous two pics; Paul W.S. Anderson's "The Three Musketeers" and the Rowan Atkinson action-comedy "Johnny English Reborn" don't find much love in the U.S. Far exceeding expectations, Paranormal Activity 3 grossed a massive $26.2 million on Friday, putting it on course to earn as much as $50 million for the weekend and score the best opening in nearly four months at the domestic box office on the strength of both younger and older moviegoers.

Paramount’s remake tops Friday with $5.6 million; horror prequel “The Thing” off to so-so start with $3.2 mil, while the Steve Martin-Jack Black-Owen Wilson comedy “The Big Year” only grosses $1.2 mil.

FRIDAY 10:30 PM UPDATE: Here are the Top 10 movies at the North American box office tonight. Analysis coming: 1) Real Steel (DreamWorks/Disney) NEW [3,440 Theaters] Friday $8.7M, Estimated Weekend $27M; 2) The Ides Of March (Smokehouse/Sony) NEW [2,199 Theaters] Friday $3.7M, Estimated Weekend $11M; 3) Dolphin Tale (Alcon/Warner Bros) Week 3 [3,478 Theaters] Friday $2.4M, Estimated Weekend $8.5M, Estimated Cume $48.4M

It's 1994 all over again, with a re-release of "The Lion King" opening at the top of the box office. A 3-D version of the wildly popular Disney animated musical earned a surprising $29.3 million in its first weekend in theaters, according to Sunday estimates. The original film made more than $40 million when it opened nationwide 17 years ago.