Following the reveal of The Hunger Games‘ weekend box office (see the record breaking number!), Variety spoke to director Gary Ross.

He said he was very surprised by how well it did:

“I imagined that it could do very, very well, but certainly not this much,” Ross told Variety.

That’s because the helmer said the film’s production — shot mostly in the mountains of North Carolina — didn’t exactly feel like the start of a Hollywood franchise phenomenon.

“It was a very lean shoot,” Ross said. “There’s something kind of humbling about hiking in the woods to make a movie every day. We didn’t feel like we were part of a large Hollywood system.”

We had asked fans to take this poll asking how well you thought the film would do. 28% of fans thought the film would make over $130 million. 38% thought the film would make between $110 – $130 million.