The odds had always been favored for “The Hunger Games” prequel “The Ballad of Snakes,” and despite opening slightly below expectations, it triumphed amid a busy weekend at the box office.
The Lionsgate film brought audiences back to the dystopia of Panem for the first time in nearly a decade, grossing $44 million in its opening weekend from 3,776 theaters in North America and $98 million worldwide. The spark of the original series catapulted Jennifer Lawrence to global stardom and inspired three sequels. But they were enough to win the weekend, beating out three newcomers, Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation’s trilogy”Trolls unite,” Sony’s gory thriller “Grateful,” and director Taika Waititi’s sports comedy “Next Goal Wins.”
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Box office revenue for Disney’s superhero sequel “Marvel” plummeted 79% due to an oversupply of new movies. other Disgraceful record: The biggest second-weekend drop in Marvel Cinematic Universe history. Before this weekend, “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantum of Madness” had the largest decline in the series with a 69.9% drop.
After the worst start in the entire MCU, “The Movie” tied for third with $10.2 million from 4,030 theaters, bringing its domestic tally to $65 million. The blockbuster, with a budget of more than $220 million, is the rare Marvel movie to underperform at the box office.Part of the problem with The Office is that it bears the brunt of audience fatigue Heading to this massive franchiseBut at this rate, it might not even match the opening weekend of its predecessor, 2019’s Captain Marvel ($153 million). end It’s expected to be the first Marvel Cinematic Universe film to gross less than $100 million domestically.
Although “The Hunger Games” debuted at a significantly lower box office than its predecessors – all four “Hunger Games” films have grossed at least $100 million domestically – analysts believe the film is well-positioned for a theatrical release. The production cost was $100 million, more than the first “Hunger Games” but far less than the three sequels (the last adventure cost $160 million in 2015).
“It’s 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 about Half way through the opening of a movie, and this weekend’s numbers are close to that.”
“West Side Story” breakout Rachel Ziegler and “The Gilded Age” actor Tom Bryce star in “The Ballad of Birds,” based on the 2020 novel by author Suzanne Collins. It’s a standalone film in the $3 billion “Hunger Games” series, which takes place 60 years before Katniss Everdeen bravely volunteered to pay tribute. The story revolves around young Coriolanus Snow, who later becomes the brutal president of the dystopian state of Panem, and District 12 tribute Lucy Gray Baird, who is He was in the 10th annual Hunger Games. Reviews were mixed, with a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 60% and a CinemaScore of “B+”. The audience was mainly young women; 65% were female and 73% were aged 18-34.
It may have benefited from the latest publicity push (SAG-AFTRA awarded the film a tentative deal just days before the strike ended on November 9), which has included Viola Davis, Peter Dinklage and Euphoria” star Hunter Schafer cast included — an opportunity to promote the film forward Other recent strike-era films, like “Killers of the Flower Moon” or “Silly Money,” have struggled to draw attention to their films without celebrity casts.
“We’re a little lighter [than projections] It’s a bit too much in China [projections] “This will be a huge commercial outcome for the studio,” Lionsgate distribution chief Adam Fogelson said.
With the exception of “The Next Goal”, this weekend’s new releases competed against each other and managed to achieve good box office results in the framework of the eve of Turkey Day. With the film opening next weekend, the box office will only get more crowded. Ridley Scott’s historical epic Napoleon and Disney’s animated musical The Wish.
Trolls, which placed second, met box office expectations, opening in 3,870 theaters and grossing $30.6 million in its first weekend. It was the third-highest-grossing animated film in its opening weekend this year, well behind Trolls, which ranked first and second. “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” ($146 million) and “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” ($120 million). Those animated properties, along with The Elements and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish , have all benefited from impressive box-office staying power. With an “A” CinemaScore, Trolls 3 will enjoy the same extended run in the coming weeks.
“Opening weekend attendance numbers and audience ratings indicate that the holidays are coming and there’s a huge opportunity,” said Jim Orr, Universal Studios’ president of domestic distribution.
Family-friendly Trolls, which stars the voices of Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake and tells an adventure story about an NSYNC-style boy band, has taken a head start overseas, earning $76.3 million internationally. box office and $108 million worldwide. Production costs are $95 million.
It’s impossible to judge how well this trilogy fares compared to its sequel, 2020’s Trolls World Tour, which premiered simultaneously on demand while movie theaters were closed during the height of the pandemic. The first film, 2016’s “Trolls,” grossed $46 million domestically, and the film grossed $350 million worldwide.
Director Eli Roth’s R-rated horror film “Thanksgiving” opened in 3,204 theaters and opened with $10.2 million, slightly below expectations. It’s tied with “Marvel,” so its final ranking on the box office charts will be determined on Monday. The film only cost $15 million to make, so it could still make a killing at the box office. Patrick Dempsey and TikTok star Addison Rae star in the cast of ‘Thanksgiving,’ which centers on a mysterious axe-wielding killer who terrorizes residents of Plymouth, Massachusetts, where a Black Friday riot ends in tragedy . The film received a “B-” on CinemaScore and an astonishing 83% on Rotten Tomatoes.
“The reviews have been great and the movie should be in theaters this coming Thanksgiving weekend,” Gross said.
Universal and Blumhouse’s horror video game adaptation “Five Nights at Freddy’s” was another horror movie that rounded out the top five with $3.3 million from 2,829 theaters. After four weekends, the modestly budgeted film grossed $132 million in the North. To date, U.S. and global sales have reached $271 million.
Waititi’s feel-good sports comedy “The Next Shot” flopped in its domestic debut, finishing in sixth place with $2.7 million in 2,240 theaters. Without positive reviews and without a strong audience score (41% on Rotten Tomatoes and a “B+” CinemaScore), Searchlight may have a hard time bouncing back in a crowded holiday season. Next Goal Wins, starring Michael Fassbender, is based on the true story of an American Samoa soccer team and its coach who is tasked with turning a perennially losing team into a champion.
Elsewhere, Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon dropped to tenth place with $1.9 million from 1,714 locations in its fifth release. The $200 million crime epic starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro is losing steam at the box office. Revenue in North America was US$63.5 million and global revenue was US$145.7 million.
For a movie this expensive, it’s complicated to assess whether the result is a success or a disaster. That’s far less money than Scorsese’s star-driven films usually make. But Apple, which backs big-budget tentpoles and hires Paramount for theatrical distribution, doesn’t believe it has the same criteria for success as traditional Hollywood studios. It’s counting on Oscar attention and new Apple TV+ subscribers to help justify the hefty cost.
“In the end, the three-and-a-half-hour runtime is a real box-office killer, and I doubt the award nominations will push it even higher.” Jeff Bock saysExhibitor Relations Analyst.
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