Worldwide box office Nov 17-19
| Rank | Film (distributor) | 3-day (world) | Cume (world) | 3-day (int’l) | Cume (int’l) | Territories |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes (Lionsgate) | $98.5m | $98.5m | $54.5m | $54.5m | 88 |
| 2. | Trolls Band Together (Universal) | $37.3m | $108.1m | $6.7m | $76.3m | 67 |
| 3. | The Marvels (Disney) | $29.7m | $161.3m | $19.5m | $96.3m | 53 |
| 4. | Five Nights At Freddy’s (Universal) |
$13.4m | $271.8m | $9.9m | $139.2m | 79 |
| 5. | Thanksgiving (Sony) | $12.6m | $12.6m | $2.4m | $2.4m | 12 |
| 6. | Last Suspect (various) | $10.5m | $66.2m | $10.5m | $66.2m | 3 |
| 7. | Tiger 3 (Yshraj) | $9.6m | $45.7m | $8.6m | $41.7m | 100 |
| 8. | Killers Of The Flower Moon (Paramount) | $5.4m | $145.8m | $3.5m | $82.2m | 62 |
| 9. | Be My Family (various) | $4.8m | $15.4m | $4.8m | $15.4m | 4 |
| 10. | C’e Ancora Domani (various) | $3.9m | $19.4m | $3.9m | $19.4m | 1 |
Credit: Comscore. All figures are estimates.
‘The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes’ tops global box office
With the global launch of The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes, Lionsgate may not have achieved the dizzy box office heights of the original four films adapted from Suzanne Collins’ novels, but an estimated $98.5m haul represents an encouraging start.
The prequel, set more than six decades before the events of The Hunger Games, does not benefit from cast established in the earlier films, and the only significant shared character – protagonist Coriolanus Snow – was the original series’ principal villain.
The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes debuted with an estimated $44.0m in North America and $54.5m in 87 international markets.
For comparison, the first Hunger Games film opened in March 2012 with $152.5m in North America and $59.3m from 67 international markets – going on to achieve a lifetime worldwide box office of $695.2m.
The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes achieved its strongest international result in UK/Ireland with an estimated $6.7m, ahead of Germany on $4.8m – topping the box office chart in both markets. China, with an estimated $4.5m (and third place locally), is ahead of France ($4.1m) and Mexico ($3.7m) – topping the chart in the latter two territories.
For the original films, global box office peaked with second entry Catching Fire ($865.0m, 2013), before dipping with the two-part Mockingjay films ($755.4m, 2014; and $661.5m, 2015).
With a production budget this time reported at $100m, Lionsgate does not need to achieve the box office heights of the original films to show a profit, even with marketing costs factored in, and revenue splits with exhibitors.
The studio will be paying close attention not just to box office outcomes but also audience satisfaction scores – calculating if the odds remain in favour of sequels.
The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes is based on Collins’ 2020 novel, and stars the UK’s Tom Blyth as Snow alongside West Side Story’s Rachel Zegler as a tribute from Panem’s District 12 selected to participate in the 10th annual Hunger Games. Francis Lawrence, who directed all the Hunger Games sequels but not the original film, returns as director.
‘The Marvels’ plummets in second session
Following a disappointing launch last weekend, Disney/Marvel’s The Marvels sees box office plunge in its second session. In North America, estimated weekend takings of $10.2m represents a hefty drop of 78%. For international, estimated takings of $19.5m translates to a 67% fall.
After two weekends of play, The Marvels has hit $65.0m in North America and $96.3m across international markets, combining to deliver a $161.3m global total.
For the second weekend, strongest holds were experienced in small and mid-size markets such as Czech Republic, South Africa and New Zealand. Among big markets, Germany, with an estimated fall of 47%, showed strongest traction.
In cumulative totals, China leads the international pack with $14.7m, ahead of UK/Ireland ($7.2m) and Indonesia ($5.2m), followed by South Korea, France and Mexico all tied with $4.8m.
Also for Disney, Taika Waititi’s Next Goal Wins opened domestically at the weekend with an estimated $2.5m from 2,240 cinemas. The international rollout follows in December and January.
North America opening pushes ‘Trolls Band Together’ up box office chart
Following international release beginning on October 12, Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s Trolls Band Together landed in North American cinemas at the weekend – returning the animated sequel to Comscore’s top 10 worldwide box office chart, in second place.
Previously, the film’s highest placement in this chart was fourth place – in late October.
Trolls Band Together grossed an estimated $30.6m in North America at the weekend, plus $6.7m in 66 international markets.
Including some previews, the North America number is $31.8m, which adds to the $76.3m international haul to deliver a worldwide total of $108.1m.
International holdover markets saw a 30% drop, and were led by UK/Ireland with an estimated $930,000. Trolls Band Together opened in 10 new international markets at the weekend, led by Czech Republic with an estimated $460,000.
In cumulative totals, UK/Ireland leads the international pack with $18.0m, ahead of France ($10.0m), Germany ($6.1m) and Mexico ($5.6m).
Next major market to release Trolls Band Together is Australia on November 30, with South Korea to follow on December 20.
Trolls Band Together is chasing the $347.2m achieved worldwide by Trolls in 2016. Sequel Trolls World Tour saw its cinema release significantly impacted by the start of the Covid pandemic in spring 2020, premiering on premium VOD in most markets and achieving a worldwide cinema gross of $49.3m.
Eli Roth’s ‘Thanksgiving’ sees strong domestic skew
Sony has an international distribution challenge on its hands with Eli Roth’s slasher film Thanksgiving – based on his mock trailer included in the 2007 film Grindhouse.
Thanksgiving debuted in North America with an estimated $10.2m, tying The Marvels for third place in the weekend chart. For international, 11 early markets delivered an estimated $2.4m.
Roth’s film sees a Thanksgiving-inspired killer terrorise Plymouth, Massachusetts – the birthplace of the annual US holiday.
Local hit powers Serbian box office
While the likes of the Hunger Games prequel and The Marvels are battling for bragging rights in most international markets, Serbia’s box office has been dominated for several weeks by local hit Guardians Of The Formula.
Dragan Bjelogrlic’s film, which premiered in the Piazza Grande programme at Locarno Film Festival in August, opened in Serbia in mid-October, topping the box office for several weeks in a row. Total admissions to November 13 were 122,000, generating box office of €560,000 ($612,000).
Other notable local hits so far this year in Serbia include Milos Radunovic’s Storm, Luka Mihailovic’s Indigo Crystal and Radivoje Andric’s comedy sequel Dudes: Again!.
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