Box Office Round-Up ~ 11/27/23

The odds were ever in favor of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes this Thanksgiving weekend, as it won the box office pre and post holiday. Its sophomore weekend gross of $29 million puts it at $98 million overall, a big success for the modest-budget prequel from Lionsgate.

Even more surprisingly, Songbirds & Snakes beat out both new releases, as Napoleon and Wish premiered the day before Thanksgiving for an extended opening weekend. The former, from director Ridley Scott and actor Joaquin Phoenix, did a solid $20 million for the weekend for an overall total of $32 million thus far. Like Killers of the Flower Moon last month, it’s another prestige title from Apple Studios that’s doing better-than-expected box office numbers before its inevitable transition to Apple TV.

Wish, from Disney Animation Studios, was a bigger disappointment in third place, grossing $19 million over the weekend for a holiday total of $31 million. For the studio that famously used to dominate the Thanksgiving box office (thanks to the likes of Frozen, Toy Story 2, Moana and Encanto), it’s another letdown in a year that’s seen underwhelming numbers in both live-action and animation features.

Comparatively, DreamWorks Animation’s Trolls Band Together entered its second weekend with a decent hold from its rock-solid debut before the holiday, grossing $17.8 million for $64 million overall. Unless Wish sees a major rebound in December, clearing $100 million isn’t out of reach for the third chapter in the Trolls franchise.

Rounding out the top five was, fittingly, Thanksgiving from horror director Eli Roth. The holiday-themed slasher cleared $24 million overall as it grossed $7 million in its second weekend in theaters. With December relatively horror-free at the box office, it has free reign to end horror’s successful year on a high note.

1.  The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes ($29 MM)
Director: Francis Lawrence (CAA)
Writers: Michael Lesslie (CAA), Michael Arndt (Verve)
Cast: Tom Blyth (Gersh)
        Rachel Zegler (CAA)
        Hunter Schafer (CAA) 

2. Napoleon ($20 MM)
Director: Ridley Scott (WME)
Writers: David Scarpa (Verve)
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix (WME)
         Vanessa Kirby (CAA)
         Tahar Rahim (UTA) 

3.  Wish ($19 MM)
Director: Chris Buck, Fawn Veerasunthorn
Writers: Jennifer Lee (Paradigm), Allison Moore (Verve), Chris Buck, Fawn Veerasunthorn
Cast: Ariana DeBose (CAA)
         Chris Pine (CAA)
         Alan Tudyk (Gersh) 

4.  Trolls Band Together ($17.8 MM)
Director: Walt Dohrn (UTA), Tim Heitz (UTA)
Writer: Elizabeth Tippet (Artists First), Kim Caramele, Lloyd Taylor (Verve)
Cast: Anna Kendrick (CAA)
         Justin Timberlake (WME)
         Kenan Thompson (UTA)

5. Thanksgiving ($7 MM)
Director: Eli Roth (WME)
Writers: Jeff Rendell, Eli Roth (WME)
Cast: Patrick Dempsey (UTA)
         Nell Verlaque (Innovative Artists)
         Addison Rae (WME)

Source: Box Office Mojo, The Numbers