LOS ANGELES – Both franchises sport love triangles, lethal teens and heroines accustomed to the sight of human blood.  But don't confuse a Twi-hard with a Hunger-ling.  In the wake of The Hunger Games' monster debut this weekend, fans of that series and TheTwilightSaga franchise have taken to the Web to defend their young-adult titles of choice.  Sites issued columns and polls this week comparing the story lines, stars and box-office potential (most surveys favored Hunger Games, though analysts say that's because the last Twilight film was in November, a teen lifetime ago).  Lionsgate Entertainment, meanwhile, which owns both properties, is happy to watch the skirmish and says there's no need for the fuss (particularly when both parties pay so well: Hunger Games opened to $152.5 million this weekend, the third-largest debut on record). The first Twilight film opened to $69.6 million in 2008.  "Everyone wanted to put (Hunger Games) into the Twilight box," says Tim Palen, Lionsgate's chief marketing officer. "It's easy to put it in that box because of three young main leads (in both movies). But they're completely different stories with different appeals."  And they draw different, though powerful, demographics. Twi-hards tend to run younger than Hunger-lings, analysts and studio executives say. According to exit surveys by Lionsgate, 56% of Hunger Games' moviegoers were 25 and older, about the opposite of Twilight's film fan base.  Women rule both series. The studio found that about 80% of Twilight's moviegoers are women. This weekend, women made up 61% of Hunger Games moviegoers. Hunger Games had a bigger debut than any Twilight film — 2009's New Moon marks Twilight's biggest opener at $142.8 million. Yet Twilight is the ninth-largest franchise, with $2.5 billion worldwide from four films.  The titles will have another chance to invite comparisons: Twilight's final installment, Breaking Dawn — Part 2, arrives Nov. 16. The second Hunger Games story, Catching Fire, hits screens Nov. 22, 2013.  Fans already are measuring the opponents. Movieline.com ran a seven-point scorecard, weighing everything from the stories' love triangles to themes to PG-13 action. The site gave Hunger Games the nod in five of the seven categories.  "The Hunger Games has a wider appeal," says Jen Yamato, who wrote Movieline's tale of the tape. "It's more sci-fi/fantasy, while Twilight is a supernatural romance. So more guys are going to see Hunger. Of course … we're still talking millions of fans on both sides."  And those sides should see similarities more than differences, says Fordham University's student-run blog, LC Radar. Author Lauren DeLucca says she is "calling for a world" in which the franchises "can coexist in harmony without one having to be a rip-off of the other."  Alison Genet, a self-professed Twi-hard who runs the Twilight site Twifans.com and Hunger Games' Citizensofpanem.com, says peace is nearly at hand.  "In the long run, people will see how different they are," says Genet, who lives in Santa Barbara, Calif. Twilight "is a love story, the other is a hero's story. It's good fans have a choice."
The Internet is buzzing with informal surveys and stories comparing the franchises' storylines, stars and box office potential.