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Tag: Trolls Band Together

  • Box Office: Hayao Miyazaki’s ‘The Boy and the Heron’ Soars to Record $12.8M U.S. Opening

    Box Office: Hayao Miyazaki’s ‘The Boy and the Heron’ Soars to Record $12.8M U.S. Opening

    Acclaimed filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki‘s Japanese film The Boy and the Heron flew to a record-breaking $12.8 million opening, making it the first original anime title in history to top the North American box office chart.

    The whimsical movie wisely chose to open on a weekend when there were no new wide releases from the major Hollywood studios. The first and second weekends of December are generally quiet as the studios prepare to unwrap their big Christmas films. (This year, the year-end holiday action gets underway next weekend when Warner Bros. opens Wonka, although it is debuting in select markets overseas this weekend.)

    The Boy and the Heron film shattered other records as well, including already becoming Miyazaki’s top-grossing film domestically after earning $5.6 million on Friday from 2,205 theaters, not adjusted for inflation. His previous best, 2013’s The Wind Rises earned $5.2 million in its entire North American run.

    The film was fueled by younger adults, with 80 percent of the audience between the ages of 18 and 34, including 44 percent between ages 25 and 34. It earned an A- CinemaScore.

    The Boy and the Heron also claims the biggest domestic opening for a Studio Ghibli film and will mark the biggest bow ever for GKIDS, the film’s U.S. distributor. It’s the first foreign production to top the North American chart this year.

    Miyazaki’s movie — which has earned north of $85 million in Japan — had a high-profile presence on the fall film festival circuit, including becoming the first animated title to open the Toronto Film Festival.

    Coming in at No. 2 was Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad of the Songbirds and Snakes with a projected $9 million to $10 million from 3,665 locations in its fourth outing. The film has now earned a pleasing $126.3 million domestically.

    Japanese monster pic Godzilla Minus One placed third place in its second weekend with $8 million to $9 million from 2,450 cinemas. (No one can remember another time when two Japanese titles landed in the top five at the North American box office.)

    Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s Trolls Band Together held at No. 4 with an estimated weekend haul of $6.2 million from 3,451 theaters for a domestic total of $83.1 million.

    Disney’s Wish and AMC Theatres’ Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé found themselves in a close race for No. 5, with both currently pacing to earn $5 million to $5.5 million. The final order will be determined Monday morning.

    Beyoncé‘s concert fell off steeply after opening to No. 1 last weekend and could suffer a drop of as much as 74 percent. The pic is playing in 2,542 locations, while Wish is booked in 3,450 cinemas.

    Elsewhere, Bleecker Street’s Waitress: The Musical opened in 1,214 locations. The film, based on a live stage recording of the 2015 play of the same name, placed No. 9 with and estimated $3.2 million.

    At the specialty box office, Yorgos Lanthimos‘ dark comedy Poor Things did rich business as it opened in nine cinemas. The Victorian era-set pic, starring Emma Stone scored a per-theater average of $72,000, the average of the fall season and the third best of the year as Searchlight Pictures ramps up the film’s awards campaign.

    Poor Things, which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, went on to be named one of the 10 best films of the year by both the American Film Institute and the National Board of Review.

    More to come.

    This story was originally published Dec. 9 at 8:50 a.m.

    Pamela McClintock

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  • Box Office: Beyoncé’s ‘Renaissance’ Eyes $21M-Plus Opening as ‘Napoleon,’ ‘Wish’ Fall Off a Cliff

    Box Office: Beyoncé’s ‘Renaissance’ Eyes $21M-Plus Opening as ‘Napoleon,’ ‘Wish’ Fall Off a Cliff

    Beyoncé’s new concert film is delivering the goods at the box office, where it’s headed for the biggest early December opening in two decades.

    Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé — which Beyoncé wrote, directed and produced — could now earn $21 million to $24 million in its debut after it was graced with glowing reviews and a coveted A+ CinemaScore. The film earned $11.5 million on Friday, including $5 million in Thursday previews

    Distributor AMC Theatres — also home of blockbuster Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour — is remaining more conservative in suggesting a $20 million opening.

    More than 70 percent of Friday’s audience was female, while 50 percent of the audience were Black moviegoers, in a win for diverse programming.

    The weekend after Thanksgiving is notoriously sluggish, and Renaissance is a welcome gift for exhibitors. To date, the biggest opening for the first weekend of December belongs to Tom Cruise’s The Last Samurai ($24.3 million), not adjusted for inflation.

    Similar to Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and her team decided to bypass Hollywood studios and struck a pact with AMC Theatres to distribute Renaissance, which chronicles her recent world stage tour, while including behind-the-scenes footage detailing the planning and execution of the concert.

    Swift and AMC made history in October when Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour opened to a staggering $92.8 million domestically, by far the biggest launch ever for a concert movie. No one expected Renaissance to do the same sort of business, considering her audience is older.

    Before Eras Tour, 2008’s Miley Cyrus and Hannah Montana: The Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour held the record for the top domestic opening for a concert film with $31.1 million, not adjusted for inflation. That was followed by 2011’s Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, which opened to $29.5 million.

    Renaissance is also rolling out overseas, where it is likewise tracking to open in the $20 million range for a global start of $40 million.

    The concert pic isn’t the only gift for exhibitors this weekend. The Japanese film Godzilla Minus One looks to come in No. 3 behind Renaissance and holdover The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes with a hefty $9 million to $10 million thanks to younger men. Males made up 77 percent of ticket buyers on Friday, with 63 percent of all ticket buyers between the ages of 18 and 34.

    Coming in No. 4 is the newest offering from Angel Studios, home of sleeper hit Sound of Freedom. The sci-fi, faith-based The Shift is looking at a muted start in the $4.5 million range.

    Elsewhere, the news was bleak for Thanksgiving entries Napoleon, from Apple Original Films and Sony, and Disney Animation’s Wish.

    Trolls Band Together, Wish and Napoleon are in a three-way race for fourth-place. The trio of films is pacing for a weekend gross in the $7 million range. For Wish, that would mean a steep drop of 63 percent, although Disney is more hopeful in giving a $7 million to $9 million range.

    Napoleon is an even worse position, and could fall off as much as 66 percent after opening ahead of expectations over Thanksgiving. The steep decline isn’t a surprise to Hollywood insiders, considering the biographical epic got dinged with a B- CinemaScore by audiences, coupled with poor exits on PostTrak.

    Wish, conversely, earned an A CinemaScore and strong exits, meaning it could have legs thanks to strong word of mouth.

    More to come.

    Pamela McClintock

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  • Box Office: ‘Hunger Games’ Prequel and ‘Napoleon’ Conquer Thanksgiving as ‘Wish’ Wobbles

    Box Office: ‘Hunger Games’ Prequel and ‘Napoleon’ Conquer Thanksgiving as ‘Wish’ Wobbles

    There’s high drama at the Thanksgiving box office.

    Heading into the long holiday corridor, Disney Animation’s music-infused original event pic Wish was expected to win the crowded holiday race. Instead, it came in third behind The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes and Napoleon in another blow for Disney.

    Overall, the 2023 Thanksgiving box office was up a hefty 40 percent or more from last year but still trailed pre-pandemic times (revenue was down 34 percent from 2019).

    The Hunger Games prequel easily topped the domestic chart with an estimated $42 million for the Wednesday to Sunday corridor, including $28.8 million for the weekend. The movie, which opened the weekend before Thanksgiving, finished Sunday with a domestic total of nearly $100 million and $197.3 million globally after earning another $26.2 million overseas.

    In a surprise twist, Ridley Scott’s new historical epic Napoleon edged out Wish to come in No. 2 thanks in large part to older males. The historical epic, starring Joaquin Phoenix, opened to an estimated $32.5 million for the five days, including $20.4 million for the weekend. Napoleon — a win for Apple’s theatrical ambitions — came in well ahead of expectations for an adult drama. Its performance is also impressive considering it received so-so reviews and a B- CinemaScore from moviegoers.

    Scott’s epic also prevailed on the battlefield overseas, where it opened No. 1 with $46.3 million for a global launch of $78.8 million.

    Napoleon is the second big theatrical swing from Apple Original Films after Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, which is currently in theaters via Paramount. Apple Original Films fully financed the two tentpoles, which both have Oscar ambitions. Sony is Apple’s global distribution and marketing partner on Napoleon.

    Heading into the Thanksgiving frame, Napoleon was looking at a five-day holiday cume of $22 million to $25 million.

    Wish, an original story with no affiliated IP, earned an estimated $19.7 million for the three days and $31.7 million for the five days to place No. 3. Heading into the holiday, the movie had been tracking to open to $45 million to $50 million. Overseas, the animated pic started off with $17.5 million (its initial footprint only includes four major markets).

    Disney has suffered a rocky year at the box office, capped by recent bust The Marvels. Wish, which earned $8.3 million on Wednesday, could still overcome a soft opening if it enjoys a long run as Encanto and Elemental did. Going in Wish‘s favor as the Christmas season approaches is an A- CinemaScore and strong PostTrak exits.

    Universal and Illumination’s Trolls Band Together, which opened the weekend before Thanksgiving opposite Napoleon, came in No. 4 with a five-day gross of $25.3 million for a domestic tally of $64.5 million. (The performance of both Trolls and Wish fuels concern that the family box office still hasn’t recovered from the pandemic.)

    TriStar and Spyglass Media’s slasher pic Thanksgiving rounded out the top five in its second weekend with an estimated five-day cume of $11.2 million for a 10-day domestic tally north of $24 million.

    Speaking of horror, Five Nights at Freddy’s achieved a major milestone over the holiday in becoming the top-grossing Blumhouse pic of all time at the global box office after passing up Split ($278.7 million). Five Nights, from Blumhouse and Universal, finished Sunday with an estimated worldwide haul of $283.1 million.

    At the awards box office, Focus Features’ The Holdovers looks to come in No. 7 with five-day holiday earnings in the $4 million range.

    MGM/Amazon’s Saltburn followed with a domestic opening of $3.1 million. The movie has also earned $3.1 million at the international box office for an early global tally of $6.2 million (Warner Bros. International is handling the pic overseas).

    This story was originally published Nov. 25 at 8:32 am.

    Pamela McClintock

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  • Box Office: ‘Hunger Games’ Prequel Opens to Subdued $44M, ‘The Marvels’ Suffers Historic Drop

    Box Office: ‘Hunger Games’ Prequel Opens to Subdued $44M, ‘The Marvels’ Suffers Historic Drop

    Lionsgate’s prequel The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes opened to $44 million at the domestic box office, easily enough to win the weekend but coming in behind expectations. The event pic has plenty of time to make up ground over Thanksgiving week, one of the most lucrative corridors of the year at the box office.

    Heading into the frame, tracking suggested the movie would devour at least $50 million in ticket sales as Lionsgate goes about the difficult task of trying to create a spinoff franchise. The studio remained hopeful on Saturday morning that the pic would come in on the higher end of the $45 million to $50 million range, but traffic slipped more than expected on Saturday.

    Overseas, the fifth title in the Hunger Games series started off with $54.5 million from 87 markets for a global opening of $98.5 million (foreign distributors financed much of the film when snapping up rights to their particular territories).

    The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes opens eight years after the last Hunger Games played in theaters and 12 years after the first film hit the big screen. The new movie earned a B+ CinemaScore, the lowest of the franchise. Female moviegoers made up the majority of Friday’s audience — or 64 percent.

    The four Hunger Games films, based on Suzanne Collins’ dystopian YA novels, starred Jennifer Lawrence and all opened north of $100 million domestically on their way to raking in $2.9 billion at the global box office.

    The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is based on Collins’ book of the same name. Rachel Zegler and Tom Blyth lead the cast of the prequel, which also stars Peter Dinklage, Jason Schwartzman and Viola Davis. Francis Lawrence, who helmed three previous Hunger Games movies, returns in the director’s chair.

    The dystopian action adventure kicked off the Thanksgiving box office alongside Universal and DreamWorks’ Trolls Band Together and TriStar and Spyglass Media Group’s slasher pic Thanksgiving, directed by Eli Roth.

    Trolls Band Together came in second with $30.6 million, in line with expectations and more than enough for a second-place finish. The family pic may have put off critics, but audiences bestowed it with an A CinemaScore. Trolls Band Together has already opened in a number of markets overseas, where it is expected to finish Sunday with a foreign tally of $76.3 million and $108.1 million globally.

    The threequel returns Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake to the roles of Poppy and Branch, who are now officially a couple. The movie was shepherded by returning director Walt Dohrn and producer Gina Shay. Similar to the Hunger Games prequel, the film is skewing female (69 percent of the audience for the movie in theaters).

    The outlook remained bleak for superhero pic The Marvels, which fell 78 percent in its second outing to rank as Marvel Studios’ worst second-weekend drop of all time, as well as the worst for any Hollywood superhero pic in modern history. Among Marvel Cinematic Universe titles, threequel Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania previously sported the worst drop of 69 percent.

    The Marvels earned an estimated $10.2 million for the weekend to tie with Thanksgiving. The final order will be determined Monday morning.

    Overseas, the superhero tentpole took in another $19.5 million from 52 markets for a tepid foreign tally of $96.3 million and $161.3 million globally.

    Roth’s latest horror offering earned a B- CinemaScore and skewed male (56 percent). Overseas, Thanksgiving earned $2.4 million from its first 11 markets for a global start of $12.6 million.

    At the specialty box office, Oscar hopeful Saltburn opened in seven locations. The MGM and Amazon film scored a promising per-theater average of $45,100. Overseas, where Warner Bros. International is handling the British black comedy, Saltburn opened to $1.6 million from handful of markets, including $1.3 million in the U.K., where it is set.

    And back in the top 10, awards contender The Holdovers (Focus Features) moved up the chart to No. 6 as it expanded nationwide, earning $2.7 million from 1,478 cinemas for an early domestic total of $8.4 million.

    Searchlight’s specialty film Next Goal Wins (Searchlight) came in No. 7 with an opening of $2.5 million from 2,240 theaters.

    On Nov. 22, a Wednesday, Apple Original Films and Sony’s Napoleon and Disney Animation’s Wish take a seat at the Thanksgiving holiday table, among other offerings.

    This story was originally published at Nov. 18 at 8:14 am.

    Pamela McClintock

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