| Rank | Film (distributor) | Three-day gross (Nov 17-19) | Total gross to date | Week |
| 1. | The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes (Lionsgate) | £5.4m | £5.4m | 1 |
| 2. | The Marvels (Disney) | £1.3m | £5.7m | 2 |
| 3. | Saltburn (Warner Bros) | £776,444 | £840,589 | 1 |
| 4. | Trolls Band Together (Universal) | £732,022 | £14.8m | 5 |
| 5. | Thanksgiving (Sony) | £486,148 | £486,148 | 1 |
GBP to USD conversion rate: 1.25
Lionsgate franchise title The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes recorded a strong £5.4m to top the UK-Ireland box office on its opening weekend.
Although down on the £12.2m, £12.7m and £11.3m starts of the final three original Hunger Games films, it did top the £4.9m opening of first title The Hunger Games from 2012.
Playing in 576 sites, The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes took an excellent £9,406 location average – among the highest opening location averages of 2023. Lionsgate will now look to push the film towards £20m, with the Christmas release period quieter than in previous years.
The Marvels struggled on its second session, falling 63% - although not as much as its 78% drop across international markets. Its £1.3m second weekend brought it to £5.7m total for Disney; it remains the lowest-grossing of all 33 Marvel Cinematic Universe films to date, and may struggle to match the £8.3m of the current low mark, second MCU title The Incredible Hulk from 2008.
Emerald Fennell’s awards contender Saltburn started with a £776,444 weekend through Warner Bros, at a healthy £1,391 average from 558 locations. Having started previews during last week, the MGM-produced title has £840,589 in total.
Universal’s Trolls Band Together put on the best hold of the weekend, dropping just 24% with £732,022 on its fifth session. The family animation is now up to £14.8m – down on the £25m of 2016’s Trolls, but still a decent result in the current market.
Sony’s seasonal horror Thanksgiving started with £486,148 from 460 sites at a £1,057 average.
Boosted by The Ballad’s arrival, takings for the top five increased 41% to £8.7m. However, the top five films have not taken more than £10m cumulatively since August 14; cinemas will look to Sony’s Napoleon and Disney’s Wonka to change that over the Christmas period.
Tiger roars
Playing its first full weekend after opening on Sunday, November 12, Indian title Tiger 3 took £316,861 across Friday to Sunday for Yash Raj Films. The action thriller is at an impressive £1.2m from just eight days in cinemas – further evidence of the increasing popularity of Bollywood cinema at the UK-Ireland box office.
Martin Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon recorded the biggest drop of its five-weekend run so far, falling 52.2% with £317,000 taking it to £9.6m total. This still represents an excellent result for Paramount, with the film Scorsese’s sixth-highest-grossing of all time in the territory, behind the £10.4m of 1992’s Cape Fear.
An event cinema release of stand-up comedy show Kevin Bridges – The Overdue Catch-Up took an impressive £260,624 on Friday, November 17 through Piece Of Magic Entertainment. Encore screenings over the weekend boosted that figure to £329,219; final reports plus mid-week screenings should see it end around £375,000.
Former number one Five Nights At Freddy’s dropped a further 66% on its fourth session, with £218,733 taking it to a £10.3m total for Universal.
Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or-winning Anatomy Of A Fall registered a decent hold across its second weekend, falling just 29% with £206,1230 taking it to £853,800 total. Released by Lionsgate, its hold was the second-best in the top 15 after Trolls Band Together; and it is now predicted to cross the £1m mark by this time next week – a strong result for a film with significant non-English language dialogue.
Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie added a further £193,000 on its sixth weekend for Paramount, and is up to £7.7m.
Kristoffer Borgli’s Dream Scenario starring Nicolas Cage dropped 59.2% across its second weekend, adding £141,287 to hit a £764,318 total for Entertainment Film Distributors.
Todd Haynes’ May December, released by Studiocanal on behalf of Sky Cinema, started with £57,517 from 97 sites, at a £593 average. Including previews the awards contender has £157,816.
The Great Escaper starring Michael Caine and the late Glenda Jackson put on £40,877 for Warner Bros on its seventh weekend, and has passed the £5m mark – a strong result from an opening weekend below £600,000.
Adam Anders’ Christmas musical Journey To Bethlehem opened to £29,573 through Kova, taking £103 on average from its 247 sites.
Adam Deacon’s Sumotherhood is still in cinemas after six weekends, adding £27,000 to reach £2.4m total for Paramount.
Lionsgate’s The Miracle Club added £25,103 and is up to £1.8m from six weekends.
Emma Seligman’s Bottoms added a further £20,273 on its third session for Warner Bros, and is up to £529,399.
How To Have Sex – which won the British Independent Film Award for best casting for Isabella Odoffin earlier today – added £15,547 for Mubi, and is up to £348,987 from three sessions
Disney’s A Haunting In Venice is close to closing its doors after 10 weekends in cinemas, adding £15,099 to reach a decent £9.8m total.
Universal’s The Exorcist: Believer is also closing out its run after seven weekends, adding £14,360 this time to hit a £6.2m cume.
Gareth Edwards’ sci-fi The Creator starring John David Washington added £13,018 on its eighth session, and is up to a £7.1m total.
For Modern Films, documentary Tish opened to £10,221 from eight sites at a strong £1,278 average; and has £39,024 including previews.
Celine Song’s Past Lives is finally nearing the end of its run after 11 weekends in cinemas, adding £8,673 to hit £2.8m for Studiocanal.
Playing in seven sites on Friday, November 17, event cinema release League Of Legends World Championship Final 2023 did a decent £6,598 for Piece Of Magic.
Torture horror Saw X added £5,454 on its eighth weekend for Lionsgate, and has £6m in total, finishing as the seventh-highest-grossing of 10 Saw films.
Altitude’s The Mission, a documentary about US missionary John Chau who was killed trying to reach some of the most isolated peoples in the world, took £3,349 from 16 sites, and has £9,191 including previews.
Driving Madeleine, a French drama about a taxi ride across Paris, opened to £1,491 from three sites, has £7,829 including previews, before rolling out across further venues from this week through Parkland Entertainment.
A National Theatre Live event release of David Hare’s play Skylight took £304,344 on Thursday, November 16, and has £335,211 to date.
Further event cinema releases last week included Dolly Parton ROCKSTAR through Trafalgar Releasing, which made £33,891 on Wednesday 15, and has £34,467 including encores.
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