By “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes,” Lionsgate’s prequel to their “The Hunger Games” franchise, opened to approximately $44 million at the domestic box office.
That’s less than what tracking figures going into the weekend had suggested with the movie projected to take at least $50 million in ticket sales.
The shortfall was mostly made up for internationally where it came in slightly ahead of projections with $54.5 million from 87 markets for a global opening of $98.5 million.
Though costing $100 million to make, the film scored both a strong tax credit whilst foreign distributors financed much of the budget – meaning its chances for profitability are good even as it debuted to considerably less than past entries in the franchise.
“Trolls Band Together” came in second with $30.6 million, which was in line with expectations whilst its A CinemaScore should ensure healthy box-office over the Thanksgiving holiday. The film is expected to finish its debut weekend with a worldwide total of $108.1 million.
Eli Roth’s latest horror film “Thanksgiving” is fighting it out with the second weekend of “The Marvels” with both headed for $10.2 million. MGM and Amazon’s “Saltburn” scored a limited release on seven screens, taking a very robust $45,100 per screen.
Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers” expanded to take sixth place with $2.7 million, whilst Taika Waititi’s “Next Goal Wins” was seventh with $2.5 million.
Source: THR
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