The Hunger Games Prequel Lands on Top with $44 Million, The Marvels Collapses with Historic 78% Drop
by Rebecca Rubin
Nov. 19, 2023


The odds were ever in favor of The Hunger Games prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which emerged victorious in a busy box office weekend despite opening slightly behind expectations.

The Lionsgate film, which brings audiences back to the dystopia of Panem for the first time in nearly a decade, collected $44 million from 3,776 North American theaters and $98 million globally in its first weekend of release.

Those initial ticket sales didn’t recapture the spark of the original franchise, which propelled Jennifer Lawerence to global stardom and inspired three sequels. But they were enough to win the weekend over three fellow newcomers, Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s threequel Trolls Band Together, Sony’s gory thriller Thanksgiving and director Taika Waititi’s sports comedy Next Goal Wins.







With the glut of new offerings, ticket sales for Disney’s superhero sequel The Marvels cratered by 78% to land 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 withstood the largest decline of the franchise with 69.9%.







In second place, Trolls Band Together opened on par with expectations, generating $30.6 million from 3,870 theaters to start.

With an “A” CinemaScore, Trolls could enjoy a similarly long run over the next few weeks.







After notching the worst start in the entire MCU, The Marvels tied for third place with $10.2 million from 4,030 theaters, bringing its domestic tally to $65 million. The $220 million-plus budgeted tentpole is the rare Marvel movie to underperform at the box office, and part of the problem is that it’s bearing the brunt of the audience’s fatigue toward this sprawling franchise.

But at this rate, it may not even match the opening weekend of its predecessor, 2019’s Captain Marvel ($153 million), by the end of its theatrical run. It’s shaping up to be the first MCU movie to fall short of $100 million at the domestic box office.







Eli Roth’s R-rated slasher Thanksgiving opened slightly behind expectations with $10.2 million from 3,204 venues. It tied with The Marvels, so the final placement on box office charts will be determined on Monday.

The film cost just $15 million to produce, so it could still make a killing by the end of its box office run. Patrick Dempsey and TikTok star Addison Rae lead the cast, which centers around a mysterious, axe-wielding killer who terrorizes the residents of Plymouth, Mass., after a Black Friday riot ends in tragedy.

It landed a “B-” CinemaScore and a surprisingly strong 83% on Rotten Tomatoes.







Universal and Blumhouse’s 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 generated a scary-good $132 million in North America and $271 million worldwide to date.







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 scores (it holds a 41% on Rotten Tomatoes and earned a “B+” CinemaScore), the Searchlight film may struggle to rebound over the crowded holiday season.







Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon dropped to No. 10 with $1.9 million from 1,714 locations in its fifth outing.

Ticket sales for the $200 million crime epic are running out of steam at $63.5 million in North America and $145.7 million worldwide.

https://variety.com/2023/film/box-office/box-office-hunger-games-prequel-wins-weekend-the-marvels-flops-1235792803/







November 17-19, 2023

1. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes $44,607,143
2. Trolls Band Together $31,172,525
3. Thanksgiving $10,306,272
4. The Marvels $10,120,589 / $64,945,395
5. Five Nights at Freddy's $3,558,555 / $132,670,275
6. Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour $2,761,454 / $175,674,886
7. The Holdovers $2,697,290 / $8,354,770
8. Next Goal Wins $2,500,295
9. Priscilla $2,326,380 / $16,982,259
10. Killers of the Flower Moon $1,959,074 / $63,609,106

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Beats Both Napoleon and Wish on Thanksgiving Frame
by Box Office Staff
Nov. 26, 2023


Now in its sophomore frame, The Hunger Games prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes declined only -35% to $28.8M.

That puts it #1 in front of two new releases.





Sony Pictures and Apple Studios’ historical drama Napoleon earned $20.4M over its three-day opening weekend and a $32.5M five-day total following its midweek opening on Wednesday.

Though it came in second at the domestic box office, Napoleon opens atop the global box office with $46.3M overseas and $78.8M globally, or 58% overseas. Major markets still to release include China, Japan, and South Korea.





After opening midweek on Wednesday, Disney’s animated musical Wish failed to win the Thanksgiving frame—or even come in the top two—with a $19.5M opening weekend and a $31.7M five-day total.

Wish opens with $17.3M overseas in only 27 markets and $49.0M globally, or 35% overseas. (That percentage will surely rise as more overseas markets open.)





Last frame, Universal’s animated three-quel Trolls Band Together started in second place with $30.0M. That was -35% below 2016’s original Trolls at $46.5M.

Now in its sophomore frame, it falls -42% to $17.5M. It has also fallen -57% in overseas holdover markets, steeper than its -42% domestic drop.

After a staggered international rollout beginning in mid-October, it’s now earned $81.3M overseas and $145.8M globally, or 55% overseas.





Last frame, the Sony Pictures holiday-themed horror film Thanksgiving started in third place with $10.3M.

Now in its sophomore frame, it falls -31% to $7.1M.

Thanksgiving falls -37% in overseas holdover markets, slightly steeper than its -31% domestic drop. Playing In only 16 overseas markets, it’s earned $4.9M overseas and $29.1M globally, or 16% overseas.





Last weekend, in its sophomore frame, Disney’s superhero sequel The Marvels had by far the steepest sophomore among all 33 Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) installments: -78%.

Now in its third frame, The Marvels falls a significantly milder -37% to $6.4M.

The Marvels fell -60% in overseas holdover markets, significantly steeper than its -37% domestic drop. It has now earned $110.2M overseas and $187.1M globally, or 58% overseas.





Last weekend, the Amazon MGM Studios psychological thriller Saltburn opened with $322,651 in seven theaters.

Now in its sophomore frame, it expands to a moderate 1,566 theaters, around 40% the reach of the widest film in the marketplace.

It also enters the top 10, in tenth place with $1.7M and a $2.7M five-day weekend.





Last weekend, Searchlight Pictures’ sports comedy Next Goal Wins failed to get the ball into the net with a $2.5M start in eighth place.

Now in its sophomore frame, it falls -32% to $1.7M.

https://www.boxofficepro.com/weekend-box-office-hunger-games-ballad-songbirds-snakes-napoleon-wish-thanksgiving/





November 24-26, 2023: Weekend Studio Estimates

1. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes $29,042,517 / $98,601,297
2. Napoleon $32,752,716
3. Wish $31,609,340
4. Trolls Band Together $17,809,660 / $64,763,725
5. Thanksgiving $7,070,793 / $24,000,325
6. The Marvels $6,325,243 / $76,755,559
7. The Holdovers $2,798,235 / $12,931,320
8. Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour $2,307,857 / $178,243,751
9. Saltburn $1,860,648 / $3,222,673
10. Five Nights at Freddy's $1,729,155 / $136,184,280