'Hunger Games: Mockingjay' already a hot ticket

Sales of tickets for the third Hunger Games movie are already sizzling, three weeks before the Nov. 21 debut of Mockingjay – Part 1.

Advance tickets went on sale Wednesday, and Fandango and MovieTickets.com have been widely reported as scoring their largest first-day totals for the year.

The film, starring Jennifer Lawrence as death-match champ Katniss Everdeen, should easily have 2014's biggest opening.

Early projections are for a $130 million first weekend -- far beyond the $100 million taken in by Transformers: Age of Extinction on its first weekend at the end of June.

And that's before most of the advertising has kicked in, points out Variety.com.

Last November, Hunger Games: Catching Fire caught fire and grossed $158 million on Weekend One, on its way to a $424 million domestic haul, No. 10 all-time, not accounting for inflation.

Mockingjay – Part 1 might do even better, the Hollywood Reporter says.

The biggest hit so far this year has been Guardians of the Galaxy, with $328 million.

Contact staff writer Peter Mucha at 215-854-4342 or pmucha@phillynews.com. Follow @petemucha on Twitter.