‘The Hunger Games’ Prequel Wins Thanksgiving Box Office

The latest Disney animation had to make do with third place –– behind even Ridley Scott’s ‘Napoleon’ as the company’s box office woes rumble on.

Honor Gillies as Barb Azure, Konstantin Taffet as Clerk Carmine and Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird in 'The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.'

(L to R) Honor Gillies as Barb Azure, Konstantin Taffet as Clerk Carmine and Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird in 'The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.' Photo Credit: Murray Close.

Preview:

‘The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes’ topped the Thanksgiving.
Disney’s ‘Wish’ for success was not granted.
Ridley Scott’s ‘Napoleon’ did well.

There was a time when the Walt Disney company was the box office behemoth –– in 2019, for example, seven of its releases earned more than $1 billion at the worldwide box office.

But on the evidence of this weekend’s Thanksgiving box office, those days are well and truly behind it as ‘Wish’, the latest animated fantasy –– one celebrating the studio’s legacy, no less –– earned a disappointing $19.5 million over the weekend and $31.7 million over five days, leaving it in third place behind ‘Hunger Games’ prequel ‘The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes’ and Ridley Scott’s latest historical effort, ‘Napoleon’.

‘The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes’ Bites the Competition

Tom Blyth as Coriolanus Snow in 'The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.' Photo Credit: Courtesy of Lionsgate.

On its second weekend of release, the adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ prequel novel to best-selling ‘Hunger Games’ book series (which were turned into a successful movie franchise of their own between 2012 and 2015), added $28.8 million over the weekend and $42 million since Wednesday. It has generated $98.3 million in North America and nearly $200 million globally.

It’s still a far cry from the success of that original four-movie set but given its (relatively) thrifty $100 million production budget, you just know the Lionsgate team will be hoping it can launch its own franchise.

‘Wish’ Fails to Capture the Magic

SPINNING A YARN – In Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Wish,” sharp-witted idealist Asha (voice of Ariana DeBose) makes a wish so powerful, it’s answered by a cosmic force—a little ball of boundless energy called Star. Asha’s new ally communicates in creative ways, making captivating use of a magenta ball of yarn. Helmed by Oscar®-winning director Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn, “Wish” features original songs by Grammy®-nominated singer/songwriter Julia Michaels and Grammy-winning producer/songwriter/musician Benjamin Rice. The epic animated musical opens only in theaters on Nov. 22, 2023. © 2023 Disney. All Rights Reserved.

There will be much to consider going forward given ‘Wish’s poor third-place start. While not as catastrophic as, say, ‘Strange World’ it’s still a big disappointment.

The new movie was supposed to be Disney’s big animated return, a lavish musical littered with callbacks to the studio’s history, full of songs and magic. But with a reported $200 million budget (before marketing costs), it has a lot to earn back.

In reality, however, ‘Wish’ has turned into the latest flop for the studio, in a year when many of its movies have stumbled, even those from reliable hitmakers such as Marvel and Pixar.

Going forward, Disney will be pinning its hopes on the movie showing some sort of legs at the box office, repeating the slow-build success of Pixar’s ‘Elemental’, which had a slow start but has since found its footing at the box office and has been successful on Disney+.

And the streaming service has been both a boon and a problem for the studio’s movies, with audiences leaning into watching its output at home rather than going out to theaters, a fallout of the pandemic and the rise of at-home content.

‘Napoleon’ Sees a Small Victory

'Napoleon' premiering in theaters around the world on November 22, 2023.

Despite its long, 158-minute running time and adult-skewing subject matter, Ridley Scott’s latest historical epic, the Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby-starring ‘Napoleon’ has won out over ‘Wish’, scoring a second place finish over the Thanksgiving period.

‘Napoleon’ took in a better-than-expected $21 million over the weekend and $32.5 million in its first five days of release. Globally, “Napoleon” generated $78.8 million.

And while that isn’t the most successful opening for a movie which cost $200 million to make, Apple (which released it in partnership with Sony Pictures) isn’t likely all that worried, since it’ll drive people to check out the film when it eventually lands on Apple TV+.