The odds were always in favor of The Hunger Games prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which emerged victorious at the box office on a busy weekend despite opening slightly below expectations.
The film, which returns audiences to the dystopia of Hunger Games for the first time in nearly a decade, collected $44 million in its first weekend in theaters from 3,776 North American theaters and $98 million worldwide. Those initial ticket sales failed to ignite the spark of the original franchise that made Jennifer Lawerence a global star and inspired three sequels. But they were enough to win the weekend against three other newcomers: the threequel “Trolls Band Together” from Universal and DreamWorks Animation, the bloody thriller “Thanksgiving” from Sony and the sports comedy “Next Goal Wins” from director Taika Waititi.
Due to the flood of new offerings, ticket sales for Disney’s superhero sequel “The Marvels” plunged 79%, setting another ignominious record: the biggest second-weekend drop (by far) in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Before this weekend, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania saw the franchise’s biggest drop at 69.9%.
After the worst opening in the entire MCU, “The Marvels” came in third with $10.2 million from 4,030 theaters, increasing its domestic tally to $65 million. The $220 million-plus tentpole is the rare Marvel film to underperform at the box office, and part of the problem is that it’s bearing the brunt of audience fatigue with this sprawling franchise. But at this rate, by the end of its theatrical run, it may not even come close to the opening weekend of its 2019 predecessor “Captain Marvel” ($153 million).
Although “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” opened significantly worse than its predecessors – each of the four “Hunger Games” installments grossed at least $100 million at the domestic box office – analysts believe the film is well positioned for its theatrical release . It cost $100 million to produce, more than the first Hunger Games but significantly less than the three sequels (with the last adventure costing $160 million in 2015).
“This is a very good start for an action-adventure prequel,” says David A. Gross, who runs the film consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “On average, prequels start with about half the opening credits of the previous film, and this weekend’s number is close to that.”
“West Side Story” breakout artist Rachel Zegler and “The Gilded Age” actor Tom Blyth star in “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” based on author Suzanne Collins’ 2020 novel. It is a standalone film in the $3 billion Hunger Games franchise, set six decades before Katniss Everdeen bravely came forward as a tribute. The story revolves around a young Coriolanus Snow, who later becomes the tyrannical president of the dystopian Panem, and the tribute Lucy Gray Baird, whom he mentors in the 10th annual Hunger Games. Reviews were mixed, with a 60% on Rotten Tomatoes and a “B+” CinemaScore. The audience was predominantly young women; 65% were female and 73% were between 18 and 34 years old.
It likely benefited from a groundbreaking boost in publicity (SAG granted the film a tentative deal just days before the strike ended on November 9) that allowed the cast — including Viola Davis, Peter Dinklage and “Euphoria” star Hunter Schafer – provided an opportunity to promote the film before it was released in theaters. Other recent strike-era releases, such as “Killers of the Flower Moon” and “Dumb Money,” have struggled to attract attention to their films without a cast of famous faces.
With the exception of “Next Goal Wins”, this weekend’s newcomers worked as a counter-program against each other and successfully achieved decent income in this context before Turkey Day. The box office will be even busier next weekend when Ridley Scott’s historical epic “Napoleon” and Disney’s animated musical “Wish” premiere.
In second place, “Trolls Band Together” opened as expected and grossed $30.6 million in 3,870 theaters. It’s the third-biggest opening weekend for an animated film this year, well behind the Nos. 1 and 2 spots of The Super Mario Bros. Movie ($146 million) and Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse ($120 million). Dollar). . These animated films, along with Elemental and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, have benefited from impressive box office staying power. With an “A” CinemaScore, “Trolls 3” could enjoy a similarly long run in the next few weeks.
Family-friendly film “Trolls,” which features the voices of Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake in an adventure about an *Nsync-style boy band, has had a head start overseas and is already at $76.3 million at the international box office and worldwide Grossed $108 million. The production cost $95 million.
It’s impossible to judge the threequel’s performance compared to its 2020 sequel, “Trolls World Tour,” which simultaneously premiered on-demand while theaters were closed during the worst of the pandemic. The first film, 2016’s “Trolls,” opened with $46 million domestically and became a hit with $350 million at the global box office.
Director Eli Roth’s R-rated slasher “Thanksgiving” opened slightly below expectations with $10.2 million from 3,204 venues. Since it was “The Marvels,” the final placement in the box office charts will be determined on Monday. The film only cost $15 million to produce, so it could still be a box office hit when its box office ends. Patrick Dempsey and TikTok star Addison Rae lead the cast of “Thanksgiving,” about a mysterious, axe-wielding murderer who terrorizes the residents of Plymouth, Massachusetts, after a Black Friday riot ends in tragedy. The film received a CinemaScore of “B-” and a surprisingly good 83% on Rotten Tomatoes.
“The reviews are excellent and the picture should do well next Thanksgiving weekend,” says Gross.
Another scary film, Universal and Blumhouse’s spooky video game adaptation “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” rounded out the top five with $3.3 million from 2,829 theaters. After four weekends of release, the modestly budgeted film has grossed a daunting $132 million in North America and $271 million worldwide to date.
Waititi’s feel-good sports comedy “Next Goal Wins” flopped in its domestic debut, landing in sixth place with $2.7 million from 2,240 theaters. Without positive reviews or strong audience ratings (it sits at 41% on Rotten Tomatoes and received a “B+” CinemaScore), the Searchlight film may find it difficult to recover over the crowded holiday season. Michael Fassbender stars in Next Goal Wins, based on the true story of the American Samoa soccer team and the coach tasked with turning perennial losers into champions.
Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” fell to No. 10 in its fifth release with $1.9 million from 1,714 locations. Ticket sales for the $200 million crime epic starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro are closing in on $63.5 million in North America and $145.7 million worldwide.
It was difficult to judge whether this result was successful or terrible for such an expensive film. That’s a lot less than Scorsese’s high-profile films typically earn. But Apple, which backed the big-budget tentpole and hired Paramount to distribute it theatrically, doesn’t have the same benchmarks of success compared to traditional Hollywood players. To justify the huge cost, it’s relying on attention from the Oscars and new Apple TV+ subscribers.
“Ultimately, the three-and-a-half-hour running time was indeed a box office hit, and I doubt the award nominations will add much to that,” says Jeff Bock, an analyst at Exhibitor Relations.