The Hunger Games sequel took $US161 million in ticket sales in cinemas in the United States and Canada at the weekend.
Catching Fire has achieved the fourth biggest US opening of all time.
The BBC reports the first film, released last year, took $US152 million in its opening weekend. The second film, again starring Jennifer Lawrence, has a more lavish budget.
They are based on a trilogy of dystopian novels by Suzanne Collins in which young people fight one another to the death on live television.
