The odds have so far been in favor of The Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which emerged victorious at the box office over a busy weekend despite opening slightly below expectations.
The film, which returns audiences to the dystopia of Panem for the first time in nearly a decade, grossed $44 million from 3,776 theaters in North America and $98 million worldwide in its first weekend of release. Those initial ticket sales failed to recapture the luster of the original series, which catapulted Jennifer Lawrence to global stardom and inspired three sequels. But they did enough over the weekend to beat three straight newcomers: Universal and DreamWorks Animation. ”trolls unite‘, Sony’s gory thriller ‘Thanksgiving’, and Taika Waititi’s sports comedy ‘The Next Goal Winds’.
Due to a glut of new releases, ticket sales for Disney’s superhero sequels have declined.marvels” 79% reach land by creating a crater another a disgraceful record: Biggest second-weekend drop in Marvel Cinematic Universe history (so far). Before this weekend, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania endured the series’ biggest decline at 69.9%.
Marvel’s, which got off to the worst start in the entire MCU, tied for third place with $10.2 million from 4,030 theaters and a domestic total of $65 million. With a budget of more than $220 million, the blockbuster is a rare Marvel movie to underperform at the box office, but part of the problem is that it’s bearing the brunt of audience fatigue. Towards this vast franchise. However, at this rate, it may not be able to match the opening weekend box office gross of its predecessor, 2019’s Captain Marvel ($153 million). end The state of the theatrical screening.
Although “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” opened significantly lower than its predecessor, all four “Hunger Games” films grossed at least $100 million domestically, analysts say. believes the film has a good position in its theatrical release. It cost $100 million to make, more than the first Hunger Games, but significantly less than the three sequels (the last film cost $160 million in 2015).
“This is a very good opening for an action-adventure prequel,” said David A. Gross, who runs the film consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “On average, prequels start at about half the opening of their predecessors, and this weekend’s numbers are close to that.”
“West Side Story” breakout star Rachel Zegler and “Golden Age” actor Tom Bryce will star in “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” which is based on the 2020 novel by author Suzanne Collins. It’s a standalone film in the $3 billion Hunger Games series, set 60 years before Katniss Everdeen bravely volunteers to be a tribute. The story revolves around young Coriolanus Snow, who later becomes the tyrannical president of the dystopian Panem, and the tribute he mentors in the 10th Hunger Games, Lucy Gray Baird. Reviews have been mixed, with a 60% on Rotten Tomatoes and a “B+” on CinemaScore. Most of the audience were young women. 65% were female and 73% were between 18 and 34 years old.
Perhaps the recent boost in publicity (SAG gave the film a tentative deal just days before the strike ended on November 9th) has helped Viola Davis, Peter Dinklage and Euphoria stars The cast, including Hunter Schaefer, will now be able to appear.opportunity to promote the film in front It has arrived in theaters. Other recent films released during the strike era, such as Killers of the Flower Moon and Dumb Money, struggled to draw attention to their films without a big-name cast. did.
With the exception of “Next Goal Wins,” this weekend’s newcomers worked as rival shows against each other and managed to earn decent money in this pre-Turkey Day slot. With the release of Ridley Scott’s historical blockbuster “Napoleon” and Disney’s animated musical “Wish” next weekend, the box office will be even busier.
Second place “Trolls Band Together” opened much as expected, grossing $30.6 million from 3,870 theaters. This is the third-highest opening weekend for an animated film this year, ahead of “Super Mario Bros. Movie” ($146 million) and “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” ($120 million). and is far behind the second place. . These animated features, like Elemental and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, have benefited from incredible box office staying power. With an “A” CinemaScore, “Trolls 3” could enjoy a similar long run over the next few weeks.
*The family-friendly “Trolls,” an adventure about an Nsync-style boy band and featuring the voices of Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake, has gotten a head start overseas, already grossing $76.3 million at the international box office and grossing $76.3 million overall. It has earned $108 million worldwide. . The production cost was $95 million.
It’s unfair to judge the performance of these three films in comparison to their sequel, 2020’s “Trolls World Tour,” which was released simultaneously on demand while movie theaters were closed during the worst of the pandemic. It is possible. The first film, Trolls, opened in 2016 with a domestic box office gross of $46 million and a global box office hit of $350 million.
Eli Roth’s R-rated slasher Thanksgiving opened slightly below expectations with $10.2 million from 3,204 venues. The final ranking on the box office chart will be determined on Monday, as it tied with “Marvels.” The film only cost $15 million to make, so it could still be a huge hit by the time it finishes at the box office. Starring Patrick Dempsey and TikTok star Addison Rae, Thanksgiving follows a mysterious axe-wielding killer who terrorizes the residents of Plymouth, Massachusetts, after a Black Friday riot ends in tragedy. ing. The movie received a “B-” score and an impressive 83% on Rotten Tomatoes.
“The reviews have been great and this picture should air well next Thanksgiving weekend,” Gross says.
Another scary movie was Universal and Blumhouse’s terrifying video game adaptation Five Nights at Freddy’s, which finished in the top five with $3.3 million from 2,829 theaters. The modestly budgeted film has so far grossed a whopping $132 million in North America and $271 million worldwide after four weekends. I am.
Waititi’s exhilarating sports comedy “Next Goal Wins” was a flop in its domestic debut, finishing in sixth place with $2.7 million from 2,240 theaters. Without positive reviews and high audience scores (it holds 41% on Rotten Tomatoes and earned a CinemaScore “B+”), the Searchlight movie may struggle to make it through the crowded holiday season. Next Goal Wins, starring Michael Fassbender, is based on the true story of an American Samoa soccer team and its coach tasked with turning perennial losers into champions.
Elsewhere, Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, his fifth film, dropped to 10th place with $1.9 million from 1,714 locations. Ticket sales for the $200 million crime blockbuster starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro have stalled, with $63.5 million in North America and $145.7 million worldwide.
For such an expensive film, it’s complicated to assess whether the result is a success or a disaster. That’s far less than Scorsese’s star-studded films earn. But Apple, which backed this tentpole with a huge budget and hired Paramount to distribute it theatrically, doesn’t have the same standards of success as traditional Hollywood companies. It’s counting on Oscar attention and new Apple TV+ subscribers to justify the huge cost.
“Ultimately, the three-and-a-half hour running time is certainly a box office killer, and I doubt the award nominations will push this further.” Jeff Bock saysan analyst in the exhibitor relations department.
