The Box Office Report: ‘Wish’ doesn’t come true over Thanksgiving weekend
The latest Disney animated film is topped by ‘Hunger Games’ and ‘Napoleon’ while ‘The Marvels’ falls out of the top five.
Hello! Welcome to The Box Office Report for the weekend of Nov. 24-26, 2023.
1. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbird & Snakes
Weekend gross: $28.8M
Total domestic gross: $98.4M
Last weekend: 1st
Percent drop: 35
I was out of town for Thanksgiving week, which meant not only was I not going to the movies (I can’t be the person bringing a 23-month-old to Napoleon) but I didn’t have much of a chance to follow the box office news until I sat down on Sunday night (after my Buffalo Bills blew another game) to write The Box Office Report.
I was not expecting to see the results that I saw.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes in first! Napoleon beating Wish! The Marvels slipping out of the top five!
Thanksgiving weekend was won by the Hunger Games prequel, as it added another $28.8 million over the three-day weekend to move less than $2 million away from the $100 mark. As I mentioned last week, the original four Hunger Games movies cleared $100 million in their opening weekends, so this isn’t a huge accomplishment for a film in this franchise.
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2. Napoleon
Weekend gross: $20.4M
Total domestic gross: $32.5M
Last weekend: New release
Percent drop: NA
Napoleon debuted at No. 2 with $20.4 million. This was good enough for director Ridley Scott’s ninth biggest opening weekend, behind Exodus: Gods and Kings ($24.1 million) and ahead of Kingdom of Heaven ($19.6 million). Thanks to the extended weekend, the Joaquin Phoenix film added an additional $12.1 million before the three-day tracking even began.
3. Wish
Weekend gross: $19.5M
Total domestic gross: $31.7M
Last weekend: New release
Percent drop: NA
Wow. I did not see Wish opening at No. 3. Way back in February, I even looked at whether a single month could accommodate a Disney movie and a Marvel movie. It turns out neither Wish nor The Marvels was a box office force.
I’d say Wish’s $19.5 million weekend was the worst opening frame of any recent Disney animated movie, but we did just see Strange World open with $12.2 million over the same weekend last year.
It’s bad, though.
Disney has fallen a long way from the $130.4 million that Frozen opened with in November 2019 or the $56.6 million that Moana opened with in November 2016 or the $56.2 million that Ralph Breaks the Internet opened with in 2018.
4. Trolls Band Together
Weekend gross: $17.5M
Total domestic gross: $64.5M
Last weekend: 2nd
Percent drop: 42
Hey, at least Wish didn’t get beat by Trolls Band Together.
5. Thanksgiving
Weekend gross: $7.2M
Total domestic gross: $24.2M
Last weekend: 3rd
Percent drop: 31
Nope, we’re going to talk about The Marvels. A Marvel Cinematic Universe movie failed to make the top five box office slots in its third weekend in theaters. That’s ridiculous. Even Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania came in at No. 2 its third weekend.
At this point, The Marvels has grossed just $76.9 million domestically, which puts it at dead last among MCU films.
Box office numbers via The Numbers based on Sunday estimates.