‘Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes’ Domestic Box Office passes ‘The Marvels’

The Big Picture

• Lionsgate’s Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, is expected to have a disappointing debut at the box office, earning only around $45 million for its opening weekend.
• The film, directed by Francis Lawrence, tells the origin story of Coriolanus Snow and received the lowest critical scores of the franchise.
• Despite its top-place finish, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes’ opening weekend will be less than half of the previous lowest-grossing film in the Hunger Games series.

Lionsgate’s Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, is looking to deliver a franchise-low debut at the domestic box office, despite a top-place finish. The film grossed $19.2 million on Friday, which includes the $5.8 million that it made in Thursday previews that began super-early at 3 in the afternoon. This puts the movie on track for an opening weekend haul of around $45 million, which is on the lower end of projections going into the weekend.

Directed by franchise veteran Francis Lawrence, who helmed all but one installment in the Hunger Games quartet, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes tells the origin story of Coriolanus Snow, who’d go on to become the primary antagonist of the series. He’s played in the film by Tom Blyth, who stars alongside Rachel Zegler, who plays a charismatic young “tribute” that participates in the titular games — an annual pageant where teens fight to the death in order to win financial security for their community in a post-apocalyptic world.

The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes’ $45 million opening will be less than half of the previous low-point for the series. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 made a little over $100 million in its opening weekend back in 2015, but the other three films all grossed between $121 million and $158 million in their first weekends. The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes also earned the lowest critical scores of the franchise, and is currently sitting at a borderline “fresh” 60% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a B+ CinemaScore from opening day audiences, signaling a tough road ahead.

The Top Five Featured Four New Releases

It was a packed weekend for debutantes at the box office, with Universal’s animated three-quel Trolls Band Together opening in the number two spot after a strong performance internationally over the past couple of weeks. The film generated $9.3 million on Friday, which includes the $1.3 million that it made in Thursday previews, and is on track to gross around $30 million across the three-day weekend. Globally, the film had already made nearly $70 million prior to its domestic debut.

Also opening this weekend is director Eli Roth’s well-reviewed slasher movie Thanksgiving, which is eyeing a third place debut with a projected $10 million weekend. The film grossed $3.8 million on Friday, after generating $1 million in Thursday previews. What this means is that last week’s number one film, Disney’s The Marvels, is plummeting to the fourth spot in just its second weekend. The superhero sequel famously delivered an all-time low opening for the Marvel Cinematic Universe last weekend, and just seven days later, it’s about to deliver a record 70%-plus drop with just $2.8 million on Friday. Produced on a reported budget of $250 million, The Marvels is going to have a difficult time recovering its budget theatrically, and is yet to pass the $150 million mark globally and the $60 million mark domestically.

The top five was rounded out by another new release, director Taika Waititi’s long-delayed sports comedy Next Goal Wins. The film was originally supposed to be Waititi’s follow-up to the hit Thor: Ragnarok, but pandemic-related issues and a significant casting change — the canceled Armie Hammer was replaced by Will Arnett — further delayed the film’s release, allowing Waititi to release Thor: Love and Thunder in the interim. Reviews have been mixed, and the film is expected to generate $5 million in its first weekend after grossing $1.1 million on Friday. Stay tuned to Collider for more box office updates over the weekend.

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