Weekend Box Office: The Hunger Games remains on top with $61 Million ahead of Wrath of the Titans debut at #2 with $34.2 Million

The Hunger Games (Donald Sutherland co-stars) easily retains its top spot position at this weekend's Box Office Chart with an estimate of  $61.1 Million (actual $58.5 Million) box office gross, whereas Wrath of the Titans (Rosamund Pike co-stars) debut at a distance #2 with $34.2 Million (actual $33.4 Million, 30 million less than its predecessor Clash of the Titans).

UPDATE: While, its U.S. BO weekend debut was underwhelming,  'Wrath' Opens a Bit Better Overseas (via Box Office Mojo)

Wrath of the Titans easily took first place at the overseas box office this weekend, though most of its major debuts don't compare well against those of Clash of the Titans.

Wrath of the Titans earned $78 million from 60 markets this weekend, which added up to a worldwide debut of $112.2 million. Its top market was Russia, where its $14 million debut was an improvement over Clash of the Titans's $11.8 million.

UPDATE #2 (4/5/12): Wrath of the Titans may not be #1 in the US, UK, and Australia, but it is #1 in the following 29 countries (this past weekend):

Box Office Mojo International - Weekend's #1 Movie (via Box Office Mojo)

Russia, Italy, Argentina, Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Colombia, East Africa, France, Greece, Hungary, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Serbia & Montenegro, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa (entire region), Spain, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
'Hunger Games' Easily Tops 'Wrath,' 'Mirror' on Friday (via Box Office Mojo)
'Wrath,' 'Mirror' No Match for 'Hunger Games'
(via Box Office Mojo)

Box office phenomenon The Hunger Games was once again the undisputed champ this weekend, as it had little difficulty fending off unimpressive fantasy flicks Wrath of the Titans and Mirror Mirror. With that strong holdover performance, and two newcomers combining for over $50 million, the Top 12 earned an estimated $145 million (a 27 percent improvement over the same period last year).

The Hunger Games fell 60 percent to an estimated $61.1 million this weekend. That ranks as the seventh-highest second weekend ever, though it fell behind Avatar, Spider-Man and Alice in Wonderland among non-sequels. Still, that drop was lighter than the decline for any of the Twilight movies that opened on a Friday including the first one, which lost 62 percent in its second weekend.

The sci-fi book adaptation is expected to pass $250 million on Sunday, which makes it the fifth-fastest movie to ever reach that milestone (first among non-sequels). Through just 10 days in theaters, The Hunger Games has earned $251 million, and it could be on track for a final tally around $350 million.

Wrath of the Titans debuted in second place with an estimated $34.2 million.

Here's the Top 10 Box Office chart report (via Collider)

Title	Weekend	Total
1	The Hunger Games	$61,100,000	$251
2	Wrath of the Titans	$34,200,000	$34.2
3	Mirror, Mirror	$19,000,000	$19
4	21 Jump Street	$15,000,000	$93
5	The Lorax	$9,010,000	$189.5
6	John Carter	$2,005,000	$66.2
7	Salmon Fishing in the Yemen	$1,274,000	$3.1
8	Act of Valor	$1,006,000	$67.7
9	A Thousand Words	$915,000	$16.5
10	Journey 2	$835,000	$98.4

VIEW FULL WEEKEND CHART at Box Office Mojo!

In addition, according to Deadline, Wrath of the Titans, received a "B+" CinemaScore from audiences even thought it got a lukewarm reviews from critics.

Though Wrath Of The Titans certainly looked better than 2010′s Clash Of The Titans whose retrofitted 3D was deemed sub-par, its critical reviews fared far worse — only 25% positive on Rotten Tomatoes. Its projected weekend gross (including $1M from 1,490 domestic midnight screenings) was in line with studio expectations. But that’s still far short of the original’s $61.2M opening weekend. Then again the original made 2/3s of its money overseas ($332M of the total $495M cume) and this sequel should, too, to justify its $150M bloated cost. The PG-13 pic released day and date as a worldwide event in 60 territories and on approximately 13,900 screens (9,766 3D and 175 IMAX) in all major markets with the exception of Japan. “We’re off to a great start, with $18M on Friday for a progressive cume to date of $25M internationally,” Warner Bros tells me. In Mexico and Brazil, for instance, Wrath Of The Titans was ranked a strong #1 ahead of The Hunger Games.