NEW YORK (AP) — The Walt Disney Co.’s “Wish” had been anticipated to rule the Thanksgiving weekend field workplace, but moviegoers as an alternative feasted on leftovers, as “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” led ticket gross sales for the second weekend, in accordance to studio estimates Sunday.
Neither of the weekend’s high new releases — “Wish” and Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon” — may sustain with Lionsgate’s “Hunger Games” prequel. After debuting the previous weekend with $44.6 million, the return to Panem proved the highest draw for vacation moviegoers, grossing $28.8 million over the weekend and $42 million over the five-day vacation body.
In two weeks of launch, “Songbirds and Snakes” has grossed practically $100 million domestically and $200 million globally.
The nearer contest was for second place, the place “Napoleon” narrowly outmaneuvered “Wish.” Scott’s epic outperformed expectations to take $32.5 million over the five-day weekend and an estimated $20.4 million Friday by Sunday. The movie, starring Joaquin Phoenix because the French emperor and Vanessa Kirby as his spouse Joséphine de Beauharnais, was additionally the highest film globally with $78.8 million.
Reviews had been blended (61% contemporary on Rotten Tomatoes) and ticket patrons had been non-plussed (a “B-” CinemaScore), but “Napoleon” fared much better in theaters than its topic did at Waterloo.
“Napoleon,” like Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” is a big-budget assertion by Apple Studios of the streamer’s swelling Hollywood ambitions. With an estimated finances of $200 million, “Napoleon” should have an extended highway to attain profitability for Apple, which partnered with Sony to distribute “Napoleon” theatrically. But it’s an undeniably sturdy starting for an adult-skewing 168-minute historic drama.
“Wish,” nevertheless, had been supposed to have a extra starry-eyed begin. Disney Animation releases like “Frozen II” ($123.7 million over 5 days in 2019), “Ralph Breaks the Internet” ($84.6 million in 2018) and “Coco” ($71 million in 2017), have usually owned Thanksgiving moviegoing.
But “Wish” wobbled, coming in with $31.7 million over 5 days and $19.5 million Friday by Sunday. It added $17.3 million internationally. It had been forecast to debut nearer to $50 million.
“Wish,” at least, is faring higher than Disney’s Thanksgiving launch final yr: 2022’s “Strange World” bombed with a five-day $18.9 million opening. But hopes had been greater for “Wish,” co-written and co-directed by the “Frozen” staff of Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee and that includes the voices of Ariana DeBose and Chris Pine. “Wish,” a fairy story centered round a wished-upon star, can be a celebration of Disney, itself, timed to the studio’s one hundredth anniversary and rife with callbacks to Disney favorites.
Critics weren’t impressed, saying “Wish” felt more like a marketing than movie magic. So as an alternative of righting an up-and-down yr for Disney, “Wish” is, for now, including to a few of the studio’s current complications, together with the underperforming “The Marvels.” The Marvel sequel has limped to $76.9 million domestically and $110.2 million abroad in three weeks.
“Wish” additionally confronted direct competitors for households in “Trolls Band Together.” The DreamWorks and Universal Pictures launch opened every week prior, and took in $17.5 million in its second body ($25.3 million over 5 days).
“‘Wish’ ran into a much more competitive market than what Disney might normally see in the Thanksgiving corridor,” stated Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for knowledge agency Comscore. “We’re accustomed to seeing those Disney films at the top of the chart. They kind of had to split the audience with ‘Trolls.’”
Still, the storybook isn’t written but on “Wish.” It may comply with the lead of Pixar’s “Elemental,” which launched with a lukewarm $29.6 million in June but discovered its legs, finally grossing practically $500 million worldwide.
Also coming into wide-release over the vacation weekend was Emerald Fennell’s “Saltburn,” the writer-director’s follow-up to 2020’s “Promising Young Woman.” After debuting in seven packed theaters final weekend, “Saltburn” grossed $3.1 million over 5 days for Amazon and MGM. Barry Keoghan stars as an Oxford pupil befriended by a wealthy classmate (Jacob Elordi) and invited to his household’s nation manor.
As Hollywood’s award season accelerates (Netflix debuted Bradley Cooper’s “Maestro” in choose theaters but didn’t report grosses), Focus Features’ “The Holdovers” continues to be one of many high decisions in cinemas. Alexander Payne’s film starring Paul Giamatti as a boarding faculty teacher made $3.8 million over the five-day weekend. In 5 weeks, it’s grossed $12.9 million.
Ticket gross sales total reached $172 million in U.S. and Canada theaters over the five-day vacation weekend, in accordance to Comscore. That’s up considerably from current years but effectively behind the everyday pre-pandemic Thanksgiving weekends. (In 2019, gross sales boosted by “Frozen 2” surpassed $262 million.)
Estimated ticket gross sales for Friday by Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, in accordance to Comscore. Final home figures shall be launched Monday.
1. “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” $28.8 million.
2. “Napoleon,” $20.4 million.
3. “Wish,” $19.5 million.
4. “Trolls Band Together,” $17.5 million.
5. “Thanksgiving,” $7.2 million.
6. “The Marvels,” $6.4 million.
7. “The Holdovers,” $2.8 million.
8. “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” $2.3 million.
9. “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” $1.8 million.
10. “Saltburn,” $1.7 million.
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