Hunger Games' serves up huge opening day at $68M Fans line up to see the midnight shows of "The Hunger Games," at the 34th S...

Hunger Games' serves up huge opening day at $68M

Fans line up to see the midnight shows of "The Hunger Games," at the 34th Street Loews AMC Theatre, Thursday, March 22, 2012, in New York. The film, about children who are forced to compete in a live televised death match in the not-too-distant future, is based on the popular young adult book series by Suzanne Collins. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

In this image released by Lionsgate, Jennifer Lawrence portrays Katniss Everdeen in a scene from "The Hunger Games," opening on Friday, March 23, 2012. (AP Photo/Lionsgate, Murray Close)

In this image released by Lionsgate, Jennifer Lawrence portrays Katniss Everdeen in a scene from "The Hunger Games." (AP Photo/Lionsgate, Murray Close)

LOS ANGELES — 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.

The big start should translate into an opening weekend of as much as $140 million domestically, according to Paul Dergarabedian, analyst for box-office tracker Hollywood.com.

First-day revenues for "The Hunger Games" were well behind the record $91.1 million for last summer's "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2." But "The Hunger Games" came within a few million dollars of each of the last three "Twilight" movies, whose opening days ranged from $68.5 million to $72.7 million.

"The Hunger Games" stars Jennifer Lawrence as a teen forced to compete in a televised death match against other youths in a future North American society where a privileged capital city oppresses the people of 12 outlying worker districts. The film is based on the first book in a best-selling trilogy by author Suzanne Collins.

(Agencies)