- The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes– $28.8M/$98.3M
Snow continued to pile up in the second week of The Hunger Games prequel. The Francis Lawrence-directed film played strong through the Thanksgiving holiday, falling just 35% and adding $28.8M for a $98M domestic total. Worldwide the film has $154M. These were never going to hit the $600M-$800M heights of the original movies, but then Lionsgate doesn’t need them to. They keep the franchise alive and in people’s minds, and this is unlikely to be the last one we see.
2. Napoleon (review)- $20.4M/$32.5M
Ridley Scott’s big-budget epic Napoleon didn’t exactly meet its Waterloo but it didn’t really conquer, either. It was a $32M haul over the five-day debut, with $78M worldwide. The film will be in theaters, driven largely by IMAX screens, before streaming to Apple where Scott has promised a 4-hour cut of the 2 1/2-hour film. Reviews have been mixed. I personally thought it was pretty bad, but it has plenty of supporters, especially for the lead performance by Joaquin Phoenix.
3. Wish (review)- $19.5M/$31.7M
Disney’s struggles with the 3rd-place finish for Wish, an animated fantasy designed to help celebrate 100 years of classic animation. But with just $31M over five days and falling short of Napoleon, it’s a reminder that things aren’t going well in the House of Mouse. While reviews were okay, a bigger problem might be the marketing which made it unclear what the film was actually about. My descriptor that it’s a celebration of past Disney classics is all most people knew, and they decided largely that it could wait to be seen on Disney+. There in lies another issue, that Disney has been too successful in streaming and it is devouring itself.
4. Trolls Band Together– $17.5M/$64.4M
5. Thanksgiving– $7.2M/$24.1M
6. The Marvels– $6.4M/$76.8M
Disney’s struggles continue with the third week of The Marvels, which only managed $6M and a $76M total stateside. Worldwide, it only has $188M which is a number you expect fro from Marvel after a single weekend. It’s amazing to think that a Marvel movie could lose out domestically against Trolls Band Together, but right now that’s looking increasingly likely. Nothing against Trolls, since I love those movies with all my heart, but they shouldn’t beat Marve.
7. The Holdovers– $2.7M/$12.8M
A slight increase in theaters led to a 2% increase in sales for Alexander Payne’s holiday dramedy, The Holdovers. Genuine awards season buzz has certainly helped, with performances by Paul Giamatti and Da’Vine Joy Randolph being eyed for accolades.
8. Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour– $2.3M/$178.2M
9. Five Nights at Freddy’s– $1.75M/$136.2M
Universal has to be so pleased with the success of Five Nights at Freddy’s, which has earned $283M worldwide despite simultaneous streaming on Peacock. It’s further proof of the double-edged sword that is Disney+, which is so successful that it has hurt Disney’s theatrical numbers. The same can’t be said of Peacock, and so people feel they need to buy a ticket to see original content in theaters.
10. Saltburn (review)- $1.73M/$3M
An ambitious expansion of 1550 theaters has thrust Emerald Fennell’s provocative thriller Saltburn into the top 10. The numbers still aren’t great, with just $1.7M and an $1100 per site average.