- Renaissance: A Film by Beyonce– $21M
The Beyhive came out in force for their queen to win the weekend for Beyonce. This marks the second concert film to take the top spot it’s opening weekend in 2023. If there was any question of whose fans were more willing to hit the theater that question is answered. While Beyonce took a respectable $21M for her #1 spot, Taylor Swift’s Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour blew the doors off with a $92M opening weekend. *Queue Kanye telling us all he’s happy for Taylor, but Beyonce had the best concert film of the year*
2. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes– $14.5M/$121.2M
In a year where we’ve seen so many franchise films fall flat I can honestly say I’m surprised that the latest film from Panem has taken in $121 million in it’s three weeks. Of course, that doesn’t account for what the budget was and likely this isn’t enough to qualify it as a success but hey….it’s not The Marvels.
3. Godzilla Minus One – $11M
This actually shocks me. Was it a lack of marketing? A reluctance for American audiences to see a Japanese language film? Or is it just plain old Kaiju confusion/fatigue? Whatever the reason there’s no denying that US audiences are missing out big on this latest Godzilla film which is being touted as one of the best.
4. Trolls Band Together – $7.6M/$74.8M
5. Wish – $7.4M/$41.9M
Yeesh, it is NOT going to be a Merry Christmas in the Iger household. The Disney CEO came back to right the ship and has instead had to endure what must be one of their worst performing years at the box office. Their latest animated film, Wish, is going to struggle to get to $50m domestic in total and won a top 5 spot in it’s second week by a literal hair (200k less and it was #6).
6. Napoleon – $7.1M/$45.7M
Disney’s not alone in their misery, Ridley Scott’s Napoleon is just the latest in a year full of big money losses for what would have been a sure thing just a decade ago. The Joaquin Phoenix led historical epic had the biggest drop of the week with 65% of it’s take from last week gone. With a reported budget of $200M it looks like this films final take is going to be as short as its namesake.
7. Animal – $6.1M
Further proving the rise of Indian cinema internationally Animal may be #7 in the top 10 but in terms of per theater average it’s #1 taking $500 more per theater then Renaissance: A Film by Beyonce.
8. The Shift – $4.3M
Speaking of types of cinema on the rise, Angel Studios The Shift is the third film from the Christian-centric film studio to chart in the top 10 on it’s opening weekend this year. I guess that just goes to show that dedicated fanbases help to ensure success.
9. Silent Night (review) – $3M
When you start to ask yourself “Why aren’t there any non-superhero action movies in theaters these days?”. Look not further then the performance of Silent Night. Not a great film by any measure but action of this quality is the norm with the John Wick‘s of the world the outlier. It just doesn’t make financial sense to roll the dice and have this happen when you could break even selling to a streaming service.
10. Thanksgiving – $2.6M/$28.3M
