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[greeneyedchick]

https://variety.com/2023/film/box-office/wish-opening-hunger-games-prequel-napoleon-1235808264/​

Nov 25, 2023 8:30am PT​

Thanksgiving Box Office: ‘Hunger Games’ Pulls Ahead of Disney’s ‘Wish,’ ‘Napoleon’ Outpacing Projections​

By
J. Kim Murphy, Michaela Zee

The Black Friday box office saw “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” continue to stretch ahead of new releases like Disney’s animated adventure “Wish” and Apple and Sony’s historical epic “Napoleon.”
Lionsgate’s young adult drama gobbled up another $11.4 million on Friday, adding onto the $13.2 million it nabbed across Wednesday and Thursday. “Songbirds and Snakes” is looking to be the foremost beneficiary of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, with rivals projecting a 40% drop over the traditional three-day frame.
Things seemed up in the air for “The Hunger Games” prequel after its $44 million opening last weekend. With a crowded theatrical marketplace and some lukewarm reviews, it wasn’t a sure thing that the Lionsgate release would still be able to draw a crowd after its fan-driven debut. But it isn’t only sticking around; it’s outpacing the newcomers. “Songbirds and Snakes” has a shot at nudging past a $100 million domestic gross through its first ten days of release.


Meanwhile, Disney’s “Wish” has fallen behind the projections that had it pegged to open on top of the box office. The animated feature took in $7.9 million on Friday from 3,900 theaters, pushing its running domestic tally to $20.2 million. That’s head-and-shoulders above the studio’s last animated outing “Strange World,” which bombed spectacularly last Thanksgiving with an $18.8 million five-day debut. But it’s still an underwhelming showing for Disney, which dominated the November holidays only a few years ago with family fare like “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” “Frozen II” and “Coco.”
“Wish” carries a hefty $200 million production budget. What’s more, it’s a bit of a legacy play for Disney, featuring Easter eggs and callbacks to the studio’s century-long history of fantasy films. With a five-day opening in danger of falling below $35 million, the animated adventure isn’t off to a good start. It’ll have to stick around theaters through the end of the year to become a success. Disney’s “Elemental” legged out to a $154 million domestic finish after a Pixar-worst opening of $29 million in June. A blueprint to salvage the run does exist and the film’s “A-” grade through Cinema Score shows there’s at least some positivity around the film.
Meanwhile, Sony Pictures is releasing “Napoleon” in 3,500 theaters, including premium large format auditoriums like Imax, through a partnership with Apple Original Films. The tech streamer fronted the budget for Ridley Scott’s French history epic, while Sony is handling domestic distribution — a collaboration similar to Apple and Paramount’s handling of “Killers of the Flower Moon” earlier this fall. The Joaquin Phoenix-starring prestige play could end up above “Wish” for silver on domestic charts, slightly outpacing expectations and now projecting a five-day debut of about $33 million. That’s beating out some unenthused reviews and some similar audience sentiment, as evidenced by the “B-” grade on Cinema Score.

That’s all hunky-dory for “Napoleon” — sans its staggering $200 million production price tag. A projected $73 million global gross for the weekend doesn’t exactly measure up to the expectations that that budget might’ve indicated. Along with the similarly massive “Killers of the Flower Moon” now tapping out at the box office with about $145 million worldwide, that makes two Apple productions this fall that haven’t exactly paid off theatrically. Does the tech giant — with its nearly $3 trillion valuation — really care about that? Or does it see this all as mere marketing for both films’ streaming debuts on Apple TV+? Industry consensus has settled on the company possessing the latter mindset.
Universal’s “Trolls Band Together” is looking at $17.7 million over the traditional three-day frame, marking a 41% drop from its debut last weekend. Five-day holiday total is landing around $25.5 million. That’s good for fourth place on domestic charts and indicates that the DreamWorks Animation jukebox musical has some resilience against “Wish,” which is also fending for family audiences.
The second weekend of “Thanksgiving” looks to round out the top five, with its seasonal title helping it holdover through the holiday. The Eli Roth-directed slasher is looking to push its domestic total to $23.5 million through Sunday — a solid result given its $15 million production budget.

Read More Ab​

 

[greeneyedchick]

Current Wish box office numbers

https://www.the-numbers.com/daily-box-office-chart

 

[Elijah Abrams]

https://variety.com/2023/film/news/...he-ballad-of-songbirds-and-snakes-1235807997/

Nov 24, 2023 8:52am PST
by Brent Lang
Thanksgiving Box Office Battle Heats Up: Disney’s ‘Wish’ Struggling Against ‘Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’

There’s a good old fashioned box office battle brewing.

Disney’s “Wish,” an animated adventure that had been expected to dominate the Thanksgiving holiday is facing off against Lionsgate’s “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” for the top spot over the five-day stretch. And the dystopian prequel, which is currently in its second week of release, is showing impressive resilience against the family flick. Plus, Apple Original Productions’ “Napoleon” is out-pacing initial estimates and giving the other two, more commercially-oriented films a run for their money.

Well, that’s the good news. The bad is that neither “Wish” nor “Napoleon” are performing like Thanksgiving blockbusters of yore, with the Disney movie looking like another box office dud for a studio that had previously enjoyed an unprecedented record of success. “Wish” earned a disappointing $3.9 million over Thanksgiving, bringing its total to $12.2 million. It is projected to generate $35 million over the five-day period.

That probably won’t be enough to top the second week of “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” which picked up a leading $5.9 million on Thanksgiving to bring its domestic haul to $69.6 million. The “Hunger Games” prequel, set before the arrival of Katniss Everdeen on the scene, is projected to pull in $42 million over the five-day period. “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” cost $100 million to produce — a relative steal in this budget-busting era. In contrast, Disney spent $200 million to create “Wish,” so it needs the film to show some endurance if it expects to turn a profit. If “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” succeeds in deposing “Wish” for the box office throne, that will be a major upset. The one thing going for “Wish” is that recent animated films like Disney and Pixar’s “Elemental” have started slow and managed to stick around.

“Napoleon,” a lavish epic from Ridley Scott, a master of the genre whose previous films include “Gladiator” and “Kingdom of Heaven, also cost $200 million to bring to the screen (Waterloo does not come cheap). The film earned $4.4 million on Thanksgiving for a second place finish and is expected to gross $33 million over the five-day holiday period to end in third position. Globally, the film is projected to earn more than $70 million during the week. A conventional studio would be gnawing their fingernails over “Napoleon’s” financial results, but Apple — with its nearly $3 trillion market cap — isn’t overly concerned with making a profit on the movie. It’s releasing the film theatrically in order to generate excitement for its inevitable launch on Apple TV+, the tech giant’s Netflix challenger. Sony Pictures is distributing the film, which stars Joaquin Phoenix as a very moody military genius and Vanessa Kirby as the woman whose love inspires him to conquer much of Europe, millions of casualties be damned.

Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s “Trolls Band Together” took fourth place, earning $2.6 million on Thanksgiving. The family film should earn $23.2 million over the five-day stretch, which would bring its domestic total to just over $62 million. TriStar Pictures and Spyglass Media’s “Thanksgiving,” a new holiday-themed gore fest from Eli Roth, picked up $2 million on Thanksgiving to bring its stateside total to $16.9 million. It is expected to make $10 million over the long holiday, which would leave it with a domestic gross of $23.1 million.

This Thanksgiving period is expected to result in ticket sales of $190 million, the highest mark since Covid upended the movie business. It’s a far cry, however, from the high-water mark of $315.6 million that was set in 2018 when “Ralph Breaks the Internet” and “Creed II” attracted crowds.

https://variety.com/2023/film/box-office/wish-opening-hunger-games-prequel-napoleon-1235808264/​

Nov 25, 2023 8:30am PT​

Thanksgiving Box Office: ‘Hunger Games’ Pulls Ahead of Disney’s ‘Wish,’ ‘Napoleon’ Outpacing Projections​

By
J. Kim Murphy, Michaela Zee

The Black Friday box office saw “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” continue to stretch ahead of new releases like Disney’s animated adventure “Wish” and Apple and Sony’s historical epic “Napoleon.”
Lionsgate’s young adult drama gobbled up another $11.4 million on Friday, adding onto the $13.2 million it nabbed across Wednesday and Thursday. “Songbirds and Snakes” is looking to be the foremost beneficiary of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, with rivals projecting a 40% drop over the traditional three-day frame.
Things seemed up in the air for “The Hunger Games” prequel after its $44 million opening last weekend. With a crowded theatrical marketplace and some lukewarm reviews, it wasn’t a sure thing that the Lionsgate release would still be able to draw a crowd after its fan-driven debut. But it isn’t only sticking around; it’s outpacing the newcomers. “Songbirds and Snakes” has a shot at nudging past a $100 million domestic gross through its first ten days of release.


Meanwhile, Disney’s “Wish” has fallen behind the projections that had it pegged to open on top of the box office. The animated feature took in $7.9 million on Friday from 3,900 theaters, pushing its running domestic tally to $20.2 million. That’s head-and-shoulders above the studio’s last animated outing “Strange World,” which bombed spectacularly last Thanksgiving with an $18.8 million five-day debut. But it’s still an underwhelming showing for Disney, which dominated the November holidays only a few years ago with family fare like “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” “Frozen II” and “Coco.”
“Wish” carries a hefty $200 million production budget. What’s more, it’s a bit of a legacy play for Disney, featuring Easter eggs and callbacks to the studio’s century-long history of fantasy films. With a five-day opening in danger of falling below $35 million, the animated adventure isn’t off to a good start. It’ll have to stick around theaters through the end of the year to become a success. Disney’s “Elemental” legged out to a $154 million domestic finish after a Pixar-worst opening of $29 million in June. A blueprint to salvage the run does exist and the film’s “A-” grade through Cinema Score shows there’s at least some positivity around the film.
Meanwhile, Sony Pictures is releasing “Napoleon” in 3,500 theaters, including premium large format auditoriums like Imax, through a partnership with Apple Original Films. The tech streamer fronted the budget for Ridley Scott’s French history epic, while Sony is handling domestic distribution — a collaboration similar to Apple and Paramount’s handling of “Killers of the Flower Moon” earlier this fall. The Joaquin Phoenix-starring prestige play could end up above “Wish” for silver on domestic charts, slightly outpacing expectations and now projecting a five-day debut of about $33 million. That’s beating out some unenthused reviews and some similar audience sentiment, as evidenced by the “B-” grade on Cinema Score.

That’s all hunky-dory for “Napoleon” — sans its staggering $200 million production price tag. A projected $73 million global gross for the weekend doesn’t exactly measure up to the expectations that that budget might’ve indicated. Along with the similarly massive “Killers of the Flower Moon” now tapping out at the box office with about $145 million worldwide, that makes two Apple productions this fall that haven’t exactly paid off theatrically. Does the tech giant — with its nearly $3 trillion valuation — really care about that? Or does it see this all as mere marketing for both films’ streaming debuts on Apple TV+? Industry consensus has settled on the company possessing the latter mindset.
Universal’s “Trolls Band Together” is looking at $17.7 million over the traditional three-day frame, marking a 41% drop from its debut last weekend. Five-day holiday total is landing around $25.5 million. That’s good for fourth place on domestic charts and indicates that the DreamWorks Animation jukebox musical has some resilience against “Wish,” which is also fending for family audiences.
The second weekend of “Thanksgiving” looks to round out the top five, with its seasonal title helping it holdover through the holiday. The Eli Roth-directed slasher is looking to push its domestic total to $23.5 million through Sunday — a solid result given its $15 million production budget.

Read More Ab​

Current Wish box office numbers

https://www.the-numbers.com/daily-box-office-chart

This is why Disney+ needs to SHUT DOWN FOR GOOD! (or have a change in strategy on how it operates.) D+ is hurting Disney’s box office numbers, and Wish has become another victim! Wait until Iger has something to say about this at Tuesday's town hall!

 

[OKW Lover]

This is why Disney+ needs to SHUT DOWN FOR GOOD! (or have a change in strategy on how it operates.) D+ is hurting Disney’s box office numbers, and Wish has become another victim! Wait until Iger has something to say about this at Tuesday's town hall!

So, would Disney only put its movies in theaters?

 

[Upatnoon]

This is why Disney+ needs to SHUT DOWN FOR GOOD! (or have a change in strategy on how it operates.) D+ is hurting Disney’s box office numbers, and Wish has become another victim! Wait until Iger has something to say about this at Tuesday's town hall!

I'm sure there will be a lot of investor pressure for Disney to stop wasting time with dying movie theaters and only focus on Disney+, but he will say there is still a bit of money to be scraped off the legacy theater business and it is still too early to just ignore it.

When an industry is in transition like this it makes it interesting and uncertain times as old cash cows die and the new cash cow is not a done deal.

 

[wabbott]

IMO - In My Opinion - movie making is the beating heart and soul of Disney. It is where ALL of the Intellectual Property content originates - parks, cruises, products all flow from the movies.

They cannot quit making movies, never, ever. But they can't do it on the cheap. They have to get back to the basics of making original movies instead of redoing existing content in a different format.

It's called work.

 

[mdmost]

This is why Disney+ needs to SHUT DOWN FOR GOOD! (or have a change in strategy on how it operates.) D+ is hurting Disney’s box office numbers, and Wish has become another victim! Wait until Iger has something to say about this at Tuesday's town hall!

I think the true tell will be when a movie like Inside Out 2 shows up in theaters. Something that is a known property that was successful. If a bonafide animation sequel doesn't bring people out then it's ballgame for Disney's theatrical business. For the life of me, I don't understand why Chapek didn't hold the bulk of the movies they released during Covid. You trained the audience to know they just had to wait a little while and they could see what they wanted on your service. But now, you can't pull all the movies because what incentive do people have to keep the service? You can pick up and drop it if you're wanting to watch a Star Wars or MCU series.

 

[greeneyedchick]

I'm sure there will be a lot of investor pressure for Disney to stop wasting time with dying movie theaters and only focus on Disney+, but he will say there is still a bit of money to be scraped off the legacy theater business and it is still too early to just ignore it.

When an industry is in transition like this it makes it interesting and uncertain times as old cash cows die and the new cash cow is not a done deal.

I would like Iger to explain why it took $200 million to make Wish, when it took less than $100 million to make Trolls. Why can't Disney control their costs as much as other studios? If they did, they would have more of a chance at being profitable.

 

[Elijah Abrams]

I think the true tell will be when a movie like Inside Out 2 shows up in theaters. Something that is a known property that was successful. If a bonafide animation sequel doesn't bring people out then it's ballgame for Disney's theatrical business. For the life of me, I don't understand why Chapek didn't hold the bulk of the movies they released during Covid. You trained the audience to know they just had to wait a little while and they could see what they wanted on your service. But now, you can't pull all the movies because what incentive do people have to keep the service? You can pick up and drop it if you're wanting to watch a Star Wars or MCU series.

We can’t let Disney give up on making original ideas.

 

[BrianL]

I would like Iger to explain why it took $200 million to make Wish, when it took less than $100 million to make Trolls. Why can't Disney control their costs as much as other studios? If they did, they would have more of a chance at being profitable.

Well, when you write original songs and push the animation like that, it's going to cost more. Trolls just licenses songs and the animation is not as advanced. That said, audiences don't seem to notice nor care about that difference, so was it worth doing at all? That is the real question.

 

[mdmost]

We can’t let Disney give up on making original ideas.

Of course. However, original ideas are no longer profitable for Disney. I think Disney+ is the fate for a lot of now smaller, more budget friendly ideas.

 

[fatmanatee]

This is why Disney+ needs to SHUT DOWN FOR GOOD! (or have a change in strategy on how it operates.) D+ is hurting Disney’s box office numbers, and Wish has become another victim! Wait until Iger has something to say about this at Tuesday's town hall!

Can’t put that genie back in the bottle.

 

[greeneyedchick]

Wish came in third place again.... https://www.the-numbers.com/daily-box-office-chart

 

[peder]

I would like Iger to explain why it took $200 million to make Wish, when it took less than $100 million to make Trolls. Why can't Disney control their costs as much as other studios? If they did, they would have more of a chance at being profitable.

Because Disney management is failing across the board. They're struggling to grow top line, and their expenses are completely out of control, all the while they don't have anything to show for their extravagance.

I think they have procurement / bureaucracy / labor expense issues, and they're really slow to change/deliver anything. Somehow all of the Disney "magic" today just means running through layer after layer and committee after committee to make decisions. It would seem they need a radically different approach to management.

 

[Elijah Abrams]

I think Disney+ is the fate for a lot of now smaller, more budget friendly ideas.

That is what we've been seeing for Disney's live-action slate. I just think there needs to be a change in that.

 

[clarker99]

Theatrical releases are just an expensive advertising tool for streaming services at this point.

Streaming is too convenient and cheap.

 

[Biff13]

Disney lost trust with their audience, they lost a ton of talent during the layoffs and their story telling is off. I am so frustrated with them and what they producing. It is time to clean house.

 

[Cfabar1]

Disney's target audience is the audience that to get to the theatre is perhaps the most difficult.

Additionally, the movies that have been hits have been movies that tapped into the nostalgic attitude of parents who were eager to get their kids into whatever that IP was (Mario, Barbie, etc.)

I think parents think with the new stuff "we can see if on Disney+ if it's good", Disney marketing is going to really have to work on getting the parents excited about taking their kids to the movie.

 

[clarker99]

Every single movie bombed this weekend. It is an industry wide trend. Any and all expectation's for box office need to be thrown out the window. All Studios are trying to navigate this new world.

There is a paradigm shift happening and isn’t about creatives or the time it takes to end up on a streaming platform.

 

[Biff13]

Every single movie bombed this weekend. It is an industry wide trend. Any and all expectation's for box office need to be thrown out the window. All Studios are trying to navigate this new world.

There is a paradigm shift happening and isn’t about creatives or the time it takes to end up on a streaming platform.

Yes, but good movies (good storytelling) such as Tom Gun Maverick, Mario, Oppenheimer, etc. still make a lot of money. Movies today no longer appeal to the general audience. People are tired of what Hollywood is producing…it obvious what they are selling. So people are boycotting and waiting on word of mouth. If it is really good then they go to theater.

There is a shift in the way people see movies today but good storytelling will get them back. Unfortunately, Hollywood has to change their focus so that majority will go to theaters. Right now, they are killing theaters based on the product (which is garbage) they are releasing. The people have spoken.