The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes took #1 at the box office over the weekend, which included four new releases appealing to different audiences. However, this is the lowest opening in this franchise. Then again, this is a prequel. It doesn’t include the characters that fans love, like Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence), and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson). Instead, the protagonist is Coriolanus Snow, played here by Tom Blyth, the main villain in the original series. This film also stars Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird, his love interest. Francis Lawrence, who directed the last three Hunger Games installments, returned for this prequel.
How is the movie? Mmmm, okay. It has a 63% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes, but a much better audience score at 91%. Exiting audiences gave it a B+ via CinemaScore, down just slightly from Mockingjays‘s A-. Via PostTrak, Songbirds and Snakes received 4½ stars and 87% positive.
Another new movie landed at #2, Trolls Band Together which earned $30.6M. There hasn’t really been a family animated movie in a while, although there was Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie, but that was strictly for kids. Trolls could have broader appeal, but next weekend sees the release of Disney’s Wish, which could take a big bite out of Trolls‘ performance.
Trolls received an A CinemaScore and 87% positive via PostTrak. Its Tomatometer score is 61%, while its RT audience score is 91%, equal to Songbirds and Snakes.
After a poor opening last weekend, The Marvels took a huge plunge, down a whopping 87%, to earn only $10.2M. Tieing with that is another newcomer, Thanksgiving, a horror movie directed by Eli Roth, which also made $10.2.
Taika Waititi’s latest entry, Next Goal Wins failed to crack the Top Five. Instead, Five Nights at Freddy’s rounded out the list.
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- Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (Lionsgate) – 3-day $44M/ Wk 1
- Trolls Band Together (Universal/Dreamworks) – 3-day $30.6M/ Total $31.7M
- The Marvels (Disney) – 3-day $10.2M./ Total $65M/ Wk 2
- Thanksgiving (Sony) – 3-day $10.2M/ Wk 1
- Five Nights at Freddy’s (Universal) – 3-day $3.5M/ Total $132.6M/ Wk 4
Thanksgiving sees the release of two big movies that will appeal to different crowds. There is Ridley Scott’s Napoleon which is already being eyed as an awards contender. Then there is Disney’s Wish which will appeal to families.
Will you be headed to the cinema over Thanksgiving weekend? What will you be seeing?
