The odds are definitely in favor ofThe Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. The prequel to the universe created by Suzanne Collins has not took long to break a major franchise record.
Based on the novel published in 2020, the new filmfocuses on the story of a young Coriolanus Snow, years before his rise as president of Panem, and explores how the tenth celebration of the Hunger Games led him down a path from an ambitious young student to becoming the most powerful man in the Capitol.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
And it seems that Snow’s power has also reached the film’s box office.Deadlinereports that the movie is projected to amass a total of $41.1 million dollars at the domestic box office over the 5-day Thanksgiving weekend, ranking at No. 1, surpassing other titles such asNapoleon,WishandThe Marvels. But even adding only the numbers from Friday to Sunday, $24.8 million, it represents a drop of only 44.4% compared to its opening weekend, making it the smallest second weekend drop of the entire franchise.
The record was previously held byThe Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2with a 49.3% drop in a like-for-like 3-day total.The achievement is also a huge uptick from the firstHunger Gamesmovie’s 61.6% drop back in 2012. However, it is not all great news when the actual box office takings are considered, asThe Ballad of Songbirds and Snakeslogged the lowest opening weekend for the franchise with just $44.6 million, less than half that of 2015’s Mockingjay - Part 2. However, it seems that the positive reviews of the movie have started to have an impact on its performance, helping it fend off some tough Thanksgiving weekend competition with ease.
Related:The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: Breaking Down Every Easter Egg in the Prequel
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakesnot only managed to surpassThe Marvelslast weekend, something that was expectedafter the disastrous openingof the most recent film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this weekend it will manage to hold off two other major releases.
Wish, the animated movie celebrating Disney’s 100th anniversary, is projected to gross between $31 million and $33 million across the extended five-day weekend. For its part, Ridley Scott’s latest movie,Napoleon, could also reach $31 million, competing closely with the animated title.
The release ofThe Ballad of Songbirds and Snakeshas not only been an individual success, but has also pushed the Hunger Games franchise to a total of more than $3 billion in total gross. Although it may not be the biggest franchise in the world, reaching that milestone over just five movies is quite an achievement.
Directed by Francis Lawrence, the movie stars Tom Blyth as Coriolanus Snow, Rachel Zegler as District 12 Tribute Lucy Gray Baird, Viola Davis as Head Gamemaker Volumnia Gaul, Peter Dinklage as Dean Casca Highbottom, Hunter Schafer as Tigris, and Jason Schwartzman as Lucretius “Lucky” Flickerman, among many others.
