#1 = The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
Last frame, Lionsgate’s dystopian action prequel started in first place with $44.6M, substantially below the openings for all four installments in the original franchise.
It opened -56% below the last Hunger Games film, equalling 2016’s first Fantastic Beasts prequel which also debuted -56% off from the final Harry Potter.
Now in its sophomore frame, Songbirds declines only -35% to $28.8M. Such a mild drop, doubtless helped by the Thanksgiving holiday, is significantly better than the second-week drops earned by:
- 2012’s The Hunger Games = -62%
- 2013’s Catching Fire = -53%
- 2014’s Mockingjay Part 1 = also -53%
- 2015’s Mockingjay Part 2 = -49%
As a result, Songbirds and Snakes wins the box office weekend, despite some pre-release projections putting it in third place behind the two big new releases.
#2 = Napoleon
Sony Pictures and Apple Studios’ historical drama earned $20.4M over its three-day opening weekend and a $32.5M five-day total following its midweek opening on Wednesday.
The film’s five-day total is running +15% ahead of October’s Killers of the Flower Moon, another historical drama from Apple Studios, which at the same point had brought in $28.2M.
It’s also running +47% ahead of the five-day total for director Ridley Scott’s 2021 House of Gucci: $22.0M.
Overseas / global
Though it came in second at the domestic box office, Napoleon opens atop the global box office with $46.3M overseas and $78.8M globally, or 58% overseas.
The top five overseas markets are:
- U.K.: $6.6M
- France: $5.6M
- Germany: $3.4M
- Spain: $3.3M
- Italy: $3.1M
Major markets still to release include China, Japan, and South Korea.
#3 = Wish
After opening midweek on Wednesday, Disney’s animated musical failed to win the Thanksgiving frame—or even come in the top two—with a $19.5M opening weekend and a $31.7M five-day total.
That five-day total is running far below the other animated musicals released by Disney on Wednesdays of Thanksgiving weeks past:
- -53% below 2010’s Tangled = $68.7M
- -61% below 2016’s Moana = $82.0M
- -66% below 2013’s Frozen = $93.5M
Demographics
The audience for Wish was an estimated 64% female. That’s more female than the opening weekends for Frozen II at 59% and Moana at 55%, but less than May’s The Little Mermaid at 68%.
The audience was also 52% older than age 25. That’s slightly older than Moana at 42%, Frozen II at 47%, and Mermaid at 50%.
Overseas / global
Wish opens with $17.3M overseas in only 27 markets and $49.0M globally, or 35% overseas. (That percentage will surely rise as more overseas markets open.)
That global opening is -32% below Moana, which began with a $72.9M global opening.
Ultimately, unless it holds far better than expected, Wish looks unlikely to match the final global totals of:
- Moana: $629.6M globally, 60% overseas
- Tangled: $582.4M globally, 65% overseas
The top overseas markets for Wish include:
- China: $3.5M
- U.K.: $3.0M
- Mexico: $2.1M
- Spain: $1.5M
Its China opening begins -71% below Moana ($12.3M).
Major markets still to release France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Australia, South Korea, and Brazil.
#4 = Trolls Band Together
Last frame, Universal’s animated three-quel started in second place with $30.0M. That was -35% below 2016’s original Trolls: $46.5M.
(2020’s second installment, Trolls World Tour, was originally intended for theatrical release but pivoted to a PVOD release early in the Covid pandemic.)
Now in its sophomore frame, Band falls -42% to $17.5M.
That’s a considerably steeper sophomore drop than was had by the original Trolls, which fell -25%. It’s also slightly steeper than Trolls‘ -39% drop on Thanksgiving weekend 2016, its fourth frame.
Compared to some of this year’s other animated releases, Band falls steeper than June’s Elemental at -38%, but milder than:
- August’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem with -45%
- September’s PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie at -50%
Overseas / global
Band falls -57% in overseas holdover markets, steeper than its -42% domestic drop.
After a staggered international rollout beginning in mid-October, it’s now earned $81.3M overseas and $145.8M globally, or 55% overseas.
It’s aiming to match 2016’s original Trolls which earned $189.5M overseas and $343.2M globally, or 55% overseas.
#5 = Thanksgiving
Last frame, the Sony Pictures holiday-themed horror started in third place with $10.3M.
Now in its sophomore frame, it falls -31% to $7.1M.
Comparisons are few and far between, but that sophomore drop is slightly milder than 2022’s R-rated holiday-themed film Violent Night at -35%.
Overseas / global
Thanksgiving falls -37% in overseas holdover markets, slightly steeper than its -31% domestic drop.
Playing In only 16 overseas markets, it’s earned $4.9M overseas and $29.1M globally, or 16% overseas.
Major markets still to release include France, Mexico, and Brazil.
#6 = The Marvels
Last weekend, in its sophomore frame, Disney’s superhero sequel posted by far the steepest sophomore among all 33 Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) installments: -78%.
The previous steepest drop was just earlier this year: February’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania with -69.9%.
Now in its third frame, The Marvels falls a significantly milder -37% to $6.4M.
The Marvels appears almost certain to finish with a final domestic total less than the opening weekend alone for 2019’s predecessor Captain Marvel: $153.4M.
Overseas / global
The Marvels falls -60% in overseas holdover markets, significantly steeper than its -37% domestic drop.
It has now earned $110.2M overseas and $187.1M globally, or 58% overseas.
It appears certain not to reach its predecessor’s global $455M opening even by the end of its run, with Captain Marvel’s $1.13B final global total also looking well out of reach.
The Marvels appears poised to become either the lowest-grossing or second-lowest MCU film globally. Currently, the lowest is The Incredible Hulk with $265M, followed by 2011’s Captain America: The First Avengers with $370M.
#10 = Saltburn
Last weekend, the Amazon MGM Studios psychological thriller opened with $322,651 in seven theaters. That $46,093 per-theater average ranks #6 of 2023 so far, behind only:
- June’s Asteroid City: $142,230
- April’s Beau is Afraid: $80,099
- June’s Past Lives: $58,067
- July’s Theater Camp: $50,203
- August’s Bottoms: $46,105
Now in its sophomore frame, it expands to a moderate 1,566 theaters, around 40% the reach of the widest film in the marketplace.
It also enters the top 10, in tenth place with $1.7M and a $2.7M five-day weekend.
The second release from writer-director Emerald Fennell, it will aim to match her theatrical debut’s final total: 2020’s pandemic-hindered Promising Young Woman with $6.4M.
#11 = Next Goal Wins
Last weekend, Searchlight Pictures’ sports comedy failed to get the ball into the net with a $2.5M start in eighth place.
Now in its sophomore frame, it falls -32% to $1.7M.
That’s slightly steeper than writer-director Taika Waititi’s last (non-Thor) release: 2019’s Jojo Rabbit at -30%.
However, it’s milder than for:
- September’s Dumb Money = -36%
- March’s Champions, another similar comedy about a hapless sports team = -40%
Weekend comparisons
Total box office this weekend came in around $114.4M.
Here’s how this weekend compares to last weekend, the same weekend last year, and the same weekend in the last pre-pandemic year of 2019:
|
Weekend |
Total |
This weekend is: |
Leader |
|
Last weekend |
$115.4M |
-1% |
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes = $44.6M |
|
Same weekend in 2022 |
$93.7M |
+22% |
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, third frame = $45.5M |
|
Same weekend in 2019 |
$204.9M |
-44% |
Frozen II = $130.2M |
YTD comparisons
Year-to-date box office stands around $8.13B.
Through the equivalent point, here’s how that compares to last year and the last pre-pandemic year of 2019:
|
Year |
YTD total |
2023 YTD now: |
After last weekend: |
Trend |
|
2022 |
$6.62B |
+22.9% |
+22.3% |
Up |
|
2019 |
$9.91B |
-17.9% |
-18.0% |
Up |
Top distributors
Grouped by parent company, the YTD leaders are:
- Disney + 20th Century + Searchlight + Star: $1.84B
- Universal + Focus Features: $1.829B
- Warner Bros.: $1.15B
- Sony Pictures + Sony Classics + Crunchyroll + Affirm: $929.5M
- Paramount: $838.8M
Sunday’s Studio Weekend Estimates:
| Title | Estimated weekend | % change | Locations | Location change | Average | Total | Weekend | Distributor |
| The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes | $28,820,000 | -35% | $3,776 | $7,632 | $98,370,000 | 2 | Lionsgate | |
| Napoleon | $20,400,000 | $3,500 | $5,829 | $32,500,000 | 1 | Sony Pictures | ||
| Wish | $19,500,000 | $3,900 | $5,000 | $31,700,000 | 1 | Disney | ||
| Trolls Band Together | $17,520,000 | -42% | $3,893 | 23 | $4,500 | $64,468,000 | 2 | Universal |
| Thanksgiving | $7,150,000 | -31% | $3,204 | $2,232 | $24,193,000 | 2 | Sony Pictures | |
| The Marvels | $6,400,000 | -37% | $3,070 | -960 | $2,085 | $76,853,446 | 3 | Disney |
| The Holdovers | $2,740,000 | 2% | $1,601 | 123 | $1,711 | $12,880,000 | 5 | Focus Features [Universal] |
| Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour | 2,330,000 | -16% | $946 | -627 | $2,463 | $178,265,894 | 7 | AMC Theatres Distribution |
| Five Nights at Freddy’s | $1,750,000 | -51% | $1,754 | -1,075 | $998 | $136,209,000 | 5 | Universal |
| Saltburn | 1,735,000 | 438% | $1,566 | 1,559 | $1,108 | $3,098,000 | 2 | Amazon Studios |
| Next Goal Wins | $1,700,000 | -32% | $2,240 | $759 | $5,742,770 | 2 | Searchlight [Disney] | |
| Priscilla | $1,300,032 | -44% | $1,063 | -739 | $1,223 | $19,602,138 | 5 | A24 |
| Killers of the Flower Moon | $1,025,000 | -48% | $767 | -947 | $1,336 | $65,614,000 | 6 | Paramount |
| Radical | $750,600 | -22% | $325 | -136 | $2,310 | $7,812,897 | 4 | Pantelion Films |
| Dream Scenario | 639,521 | 149% | $124 | 99 | $5,157 | $1,387,818 | 3 | A24 |
| Journey to Bethlehem | $615,000 | -39% | $1,384 | -618 | $444 | $5,690,293 | 3 | Sony Pictures |
| Fallen Leaves | 42,510 | -13% | $8 | 6 | $5,314 | $115,615 | 2 | MUBI |
| Oppenheimer | 32,000 | -26% | $102 | -2 | $314 | $325,367,000 | 19 | Universal |
| The Exorcist: Believer | $21,000 | -84% | $35 | -260 | $600 | $65,531,000 | 8 | Universal |
| Menus-Plaisirs Les Troisgros | $6,500 | $1 | $6,500 | $8,500 | 1 | Zipporah | ||
| The Disappearance of Shere Hite | $2,538 | -84% | $2 | $1,269 | $20,821 | 2 | IFC Films | |
| Common Ground | $1,500 | -83% | $2 | -2 | $750 | $215,506 | 9 | Area 23a |
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