The frontloaded worldwide total for Summit Entertainment’s Breaking Dawn Part 2 is $340.9M through today – or $141.3M domestic + $199.6M international. That helped its parent company Lionsgate achieve a first-ever milestone for it at the North American box office – crossing the $1 billion mark ($1.09B). This is also the first time ever that a studio has opened two films – Breaking Dawn Part 2 and The Hunger Games – to over $125M in the same year. And it certainly explains why Lionsgate was so eager to acquire Summit. Now Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga is ending, but Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games franchise is still reeling. Francis Lawrence is directing first sequel Catching Fire, now in production and set for a November 2013 release, and has signed to helm the final two installments, Mockingjay Part 1 (November 2014) and Mockingjay Part 2 (November 2015).

Related: ‘Breaking Dawn 2′ Record $199.6M Foreign Opening
Related: ‘Breaking Dawn Part 2′ Opens To Behemoth $340.9M Global

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