‘Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes’ Domestic Box Office Eyes Top Spot in Debut

The Big Picture

• Lionsgate’s Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, had a strong start at the domestic box office with $5.8 million in Thursday previews and is expected to gross around $50 million in its opening weekend.
• The film is directed by Francis Lawrence and stars Tom Blyth as young Coriolanus Snow, the future antagonist of the Hunger Games series. It also features Rachel Zegler as a young tribute who competes in the annual games for her community’s financial security.
• Reviews for the film have been mixed-to-positive, with a 62% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Unlike previous films in the franchise, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes had a lower budget of $100 million.

Lionsgate’s Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, is coming in hot at the domestic box office. The film generated $5.8 million in Thursday previews that began at 3 in the afternoon, and is tracking to gross around $50 million in its opening weekend. Not only would this be a solid result for a franchise that has been dormant for almost a decade, it would also be a stronger opening than what The Marvels delivered just last weekend. That being said, however, each previous movie in the Hunger Games series opened north of $100 million.

Directed by franchise veteran Francis Lawrence, the film stars Tom Blythe as the young Coriolanus Snow, the man who’d go on to become the primary antagonist of the Hunger Games series, and Rachel Zegler as a young “tribute” who contests in the annual games — a fight to the death in order to secure financial security for one’s community in a post-apocalyptic land. Lawrence directed all but one film in the original series, which concluded in 2015 with nearly $3 billion at the worldwide box office.

Reviews for The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes have been mixed-to-positive. The film currently sits at a borderline “fresh” 62% score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, which is in line with the scores that The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 earned back in the day. Collider’s Ross Bonaime wrote that “The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes might just be the most engrossing film in this series” in his positive review.

Lionsgate Kept the Budget for The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes in Check

Unlike the second, third and fourth Hunger Games movies, each of which cost between $130 million and $160 million to produce, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is said to have come at a price tag of $100 million. This is on the lower end of the spectrum for modern-day studio tent-poles, and Lionsgate appears to be erring on the side of caution as it re-launches its most lucrative franchise for a new generation of fans. Some would argue that the young adult boom that began with the Twilight films has long since ended, especially in the theatrical marketplace, but The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes will be an acid test for the genre.

The movie will handily claim the top spot from The Marvels in what is turning out to be a rather crowded weekend. Universal is debuting the three-quel Trolls Band Together after a strong international roll-out over the last couple of weeks, while Sony will release director Eli Roth’s well-reviewed slasher film Thanksgiving and Searchlight will launch director Taika Waititi’s long-delayed sports dramedy Next Goal Wins. Stay tuned to Collider for more box office coverage over the weekend.

Denial of responsibility! TechCodex is an automatic aggregator of the all world’s media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.