Current:Home > Invest‘Hunger Games’ feasts, ‘Napoleon’ conquers but ‘Wish’ doesn’t come true at Thanksgiving box office-LoTradeCoin
‘Hunger Games’ feasts, ‘Napoleon’ conquers but ‘Wish’ doesn’t come true at Thanksgiving box office
View Date:2024-12-23 23:50:56
NEW YORK (AP) — The Walt Disney Co.’s “Wish” had been expected to rule the Thanksgiving weekend box office, but moviegoers instead feasted on leftovers, as “The Hunger Games: Songbirds and Snakes” led ticket sales for the second weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Neither of the weekend’s top new releases — “Wish” and Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon” — could keep up with Lionsgate’s “Hunger Games” prequel. After debuting the previous weekend with $44.6 million, the return to Panem proved the top draw for holiday moviegoers, grossing $28.8 million over the weekend and $42 million over the five-day holiday frame.
In two weeks of release, “Songbirds and Snakes” has grossed nearly $100 million domestically and $200 million globally.
The closer contest was for second place, where “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 through Sunday. The film, starring Joaquin Phoenix as the French emperor and Vanessa Kirby as his wife Joséphine de Beauharnais, was also the top movie globally with $78.8 million.
Reviews were mixed (61% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and ticket buyers were non-plussed (a “B-” CinemaScore), but “Napoleon” fared far better in theaters than its subject did at Waterloo.
“Napoleon,” like Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” is a big-budget statement by Apple Studios of the streamer’s swelling Hollywood ambitions. With an estimated budget of $200 million, “Napoleon” may still have a long road to reach profitability for Apple (which partnered with Sony to distribute “Napoleon” theatrically), but it’s an undeniably strong beginning for an adult-skewing 168-minute historical drama.
“Wish,” however, had been supposed to have a more starry-eyed start. Disney Animation releases like “Frozen II” ($123.7 million over five days in 2019), “Ralph Breaks the Internet” ($84.6 million in 2018) and “Coco” ($71 million in 2017), have often owned Thanksgiving moviegoing.
But “Wish” wobbled, coming in with $31.7 million over five days and $19.5 million Friday through Sunday.
“Wish,” at least, is faring better than Disney’s Thanksgiving release last year: 2022’s “Strange World” bombed with a five-day $18.9 million opening. But hopes had been higher for “Wish,” co-written and co-directed by the “Frozen” team of Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee and featuring the voices of Ariana DeBose and Chris Pine. “Wish,” a fairy tale centered around a wished-upon star, is also a celebration of Disney, itself, timed to the studio’s 100th anniversary and rife with callbacks to Disney favorites.
But instead of righting an up-and-down year for Disney, “Wish” is, for now, adding to some of the studio’s recent headaches, including the underperforming “The Marvels.” The Marvel sequel has limped to $76.9 million domestically and $110.2 million overseas in three weeks.
Still, the storybook isn’t written yet on “Wish.” It could follow the lead of Pixar’s “Elemental,” which launched with a lukewarm $29.6 million in June but found its legs, ultimately grossing nearly $500 million worldwide.
“Wish” also faced direct competition for families in “Trolls Band Together.” The DreamWorks and Universal Pictures release opened a week prior, and took in $17.5 million in its second frame ($25.3 million over five days).
Also entering wide-release over the holiday weekend was Emerald Fennell’s “Saltburn,” the writer-director’s follow-up to 2020’s “Promising Young Woman.” After debuting in seven packed theaters last weekend, “Saltburn” grossed about $3 million over five days for Amazon and MGM. Barry Keoghan stars as an Oxford student befriended by a rich classmate (Jacob Elordi) and invited to his family’s country manor.
veryGood! (27849)
Related
- Bowl projections: SEC teams joins College Football Playoff field
- Denny Laine, founding member of the Moody Blues and Paul McCartney’s Wings, dead at 79
- Georgia lawmakers advance congressional map keeping 9-5 GOP edge; legislative maps get final passage
- DeSantis wants to cut 1,000 jobs, but asks for $1 million to sue over Florida State’s football snub
- Kim Kardashian Says She's Raising Her and Kanye West's 4 Kids By Herself
- Scientists say November is 6th straight month to set heat record; 2023 a cinch as hottest year
- Brenda Lee's Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree tops Billboard Hot 100 chart for first time since 1958 release
- US makes offer to bring home jailed Americans Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich. Russia rejected it
- 'I heard it and felt it': Chemical facility explosion leaves 11 hospitalized in Louisville
- Deputy fired and arrested after video shows him punch man he chased in South Carolina
Ranking
- Mississippi woman pleads guilty to stealing Social Security funds
- 2 plead guilty in fire at Atlanta Wendy’s restaurant during protest after Rayshard Brooks killing
- Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore on hot dogs, 'May December' and movies they can't rewatch
- Should you buy a real Christmas tree or an artificial one? Here's how to tell which is more sustainable
- Powerball winning numbers for November 11 drawing: Jackpot hits $103 million
- Denny Laine, founding member of the Moody Blues and Paul McCartney’s Wings, dead at 79
- Verizon to offer bundled Netflix, Max discount. Are more streaming bundles on the horizon?
- Vice President Harris breaks nearly 200-year-old record for Senate tiebreaker votes, casts her 32nd
Recommendation
-
Kathy Bates likes 'not having breasts' after her cancer battle: 'They were like 10 pounds'
-
Liz Cheney, focused on stopping Trump, hasn't ruled out 3rd-party presidential run
-
Massachusetts budget approval allows utilities to recoup added cost of hydropower corridor
-
Jonathan Majors’ accuser said actor’s ‘violent temper’ left her fearful before alleged assault
-
KFC sues Church's Chicken over 'original recipe' fried chicken branding
-
USWNT to close out disappointing year, turn new leaf: How to watch game today vs. China
-
Savannah Chrisley Shares How Jason and Brittany Aldean Are Helping Grayson Through Parents’ Prison Time
-
A woman wearing high heels and a gold ring was found dead by hunters in Indiana 41 years ago. She's now been identified.