Box Office Odds Favor The Hunger Games Prequel, As Wish Serves Up Another Disappointing Thanksgiving For Disney

It was no surprise that the audience enjoyed The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes more than the critics, but it was impressive that moviegoers continued to show their support for the book-to-screen adaptation enough for it to repeat as the No. 1 movie over a long Thanksgiving weekend. That means it was another disappointing holiday for Disney, which used to reign over Thanksgiving with its family-friendly animated offerings, as Wish came in third place at the box office, pulling in just $31.7 million over its first five days, behind Napoleon, which exceeded expectations with $32.5 million.

Check out the full Top 10 on the chart below, then we’ll break down all the numbers from this past weekend.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes Nears $100 Million In Strong Sophomore Effort 

The Hunger Games prequel, which stars Tom Blyth as a young Coriolanus Snow and Rachel Zegler as District 12 tribute Lucy Gray Baird, fought off the competition in its second week in release to repeat as the No. 1 movie in the country. Projected totals from The Numbers on Sunday had the film at $98.4 million overall domestically, and it’s expected to cross into nine figures by Monday. 

There were plenty of mixed reviews for Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes — in which even critics like our own Sarah El-Mahmoud, who enjoyed the movie, found that it didn’t avoid some textbook prequel traps. What this box office performances indicates, though, is that fans of Suzanne Collins’ books and Jennifer Lawrence’s first four movies weren’t deterred from seeing the dystopian drama play out on the big screen. In fact, it fell just 35 percent week-over-week, which is a big win for Lionsgate.

While The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes may not match the franchise leader Catching Fire (2013) in its overall domestic earnings of $424.7 million, it did see a significantly smaller second-week drop than any of the previous movies in The Hunger Games series. Mockingjay – Part 2 from 2015 was the franchise’s previous best in that category, falling 49 percent between its first and second weekends, followed by Mockingjay – Part 1 and Catching Fire (both 53 percent) and The Hunger Games (62 percent), per Box Office Pro. 

With global earnings of $137.2 million (per BoxOfficeMojo) after two weeks in theaters, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes has already earned back the $100 million it reportedly cost to make. While it’s unlikely to reach the numbers that each of the previous offerings saw — all of the Hunger Games movies brought in at least $640 million worldwide during their theatrical runs — it’s likely the prequel will be considered an overall success. 

This is especially true with the small decline in week-to-week viewership that could indicate longer legs in its run (and I’m sure the Tom Blyth thirst edits don’t hurt, either). 

Wish Disappoints On Opening Weekend, As Trolls Band Together Holds Its Own In Week 2 

Disney used to rule the Thanksgiving weekend box office, with animated releases like Wreck-It Ralph, Encanto and Frozen dominating their competitors over the holiday. That hasn’t been true for a couple of years now, after 2022’s Strange World bombed with $18.8 million over its first five days. Wish didn’t see numbers that low, earning $31.7 million over the same time period and $19.5 million Friday through Sunday, but it’s still pretty underwhelming, given the numbers the studio is used to seeing.

Comparing it to the five-day totals of previous Thanksgiving releases, Wish earned 53 percent less than 2010’s Tangled, 61 percent less than 2016’s Moana and 66 percent less than 2013’s Frozen, per Box Office Pro. We can’t blame post-COVID numbers, either, as 2021’s Encanto earned more than this latest flick, opening to $40.3 million in its first five days, when people were largely still staying away from theaters.

It’s also a gut punch to the company that is celebrating its 100th anniversary, as the Ariana DeBose-led film was supposed to serve as a sort of homage to the animated classics of its past. Sarah El-Mahmoud called it a “tribute album” in CinemaBlend’s review of Wish — with plenty of Disney Easter eggs and references throughout. Those nods, however, were precisely what other critics struggled with, saying the movie spent so much time throwing back to Disney’s past that the current story lacked heart.

Variety reports that Wish added $17.3 million in international ticket sales, bringing its five-day global tally to $49 million, but that still leaves a lot of work to do to make back its $200 million production budget. Elemental proved it’s possible earlier this year, when it opened with a Pixar-worst $29 million in June but went on to earn over $100 million at the box office ($154.4 million, to be exact).  

Meanwhile, Trolls Band Together had a pretty good second weekend in theaters, dropping 42 percent. That’s especially impressive given it was up against a Disney animated release, and it’s possible that familiarity with Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick’s characters might have been one reason why families picked Trolls Band Together over Wish. Compared to the first Trolls movie, however, which hit theaters in 2016, it saw a much steeper drop, with the original falling just 25 percent between its first and second weeks.

Globally the third Trolls movie has earned $132.4 million in three weekends, and with a reported budget of $95 million, this looks to be a money-maker for DreamWorks. 

Napoleon Exceeds Expectations, While The Marvels Continues To Tumble 

Joaquin Phoenix’s Napoleon was a big surprise at No. 2 this weekend, edging out Disney with its five-day total of $32.5 million in ticket sales. That exceeded expectations, especially when adding another $46.3 million from the international box office (per Deadline) — which is nearly double the projected $24 million that was reportedly expected to come from countries outside of North America. That may not be enough to make up its reported $200 million production costs, but it’s still a win.

The Marvels, however, can claim no such victory. In its third weekend, the MCU product earned just $6.4 million for a total domestic gross of $76.9 million. While its 37 percent fall was much less drastic than the 78 percent it suffered between its first two weekends, The Marvels has earned only $169.4 million globally and could become the lowest-grossing Marvel film in history, with the current lowest being 2008’s The Incredible Hulk at $265 million, per Box Office Pro.

As for the box office overall, this year was the best yet for a post-pandemic Thanksgiving, earning $173.9 million from Wednesday through Sunday, Deadline reports, which beat last year’s $134 million and 2021’s $142 million. We’re still pretty far off from pre-COVID numbers that topped $200 million and even $300 million in 2018. 

We’ve still got some great releases coming on the 2023 new movie schedule, so join us here next week to look at how Silent NIght and Beyoncé’s Renaissance concert film affect the box office rankings.