Box Office | 'The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' Emerges as Weekend Champion 

"The Hunger Games" prequel, "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes," defied expectations and emerged as the top-grossing movie at the US box office over a busy weekend, setting an unexpected record. Despite falling slightly short of initial projections, the Lionsgate film, marking a return to the dystopian world of Panem after almost a decade, managed to collect $44 million from 3,776 theaters in North America and a global total of $98 million during its opening weekend. While these figures didn't quite reach the heights of the original franchise, which catapulted Jennifer Lawrence to global stardom and spawned three sequels, they were enough to secure the top spot ahead of three other new releases: Universal and DreamWorks Animation's "Trolls Band Together," Sony's horror thriller "Thanksgiving," and Taika Waititi's sports comedy "Next Goal Wins."

Amidst the influx of new films, Disney's superhero sequel, "The Marvels," experienced a staggering 79% drop in ticket sales during its second weekend, setting a record for the largest second-weekend decline in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Prior to this, "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" held the franchise's highest decline at 69.9%. "The Marvels" ended up tying for third place with $10.2 million from 4,030 theaters, bringing its domestic earnings to $65 million. With a budget exceeding $220 million, it's one of the rare Marvel films to underperform at the box office, partly due to audience fatigue with the sprawling franchise. It may even struggle to match the opening weekend of its predecessor, 2019's "Captain Marvel" ($153 million), by the end of its theatrical run, possibly becoming the first MCU film to fall short of $100 million domestically.

Despite opening below the previous "Hunger Games" installments, which all debuted with at least $100 million in domestic box office earnings, analysts believe "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" has a solid position for its theatrical run. The film had a production budget of $100 million, more than the original "Hunger Games" but less than the three sequels (with the final 2015 installment costing $160 million).

"This is a very good opening for an action-adventure prequel," remarked David A. Gross, who heads the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. "On average, prequels start with approximately half of the previous film’s opening, and this weekend’s figure is close to that."

"The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" stars Rachel Zegler from "West Side Story" and Tom Blyth from "The Gilded Age." Based on Suzanne Collins' 2020 novel, it's a standalone film in the $3 billion "Hunger Games" franchise, set six decades before Katniss Everdeen's emergence. The story revolves around a young Coriolanus Snow, who eventually becomes the tyrannical president of Panem, and Lucy Gray Baird, a District 12 tribute whom he mentors in the 10th annual Hunger Games. Reviews have been mixed, with a 60% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a "B+" CinemaScore. The audience was predominantly young women, with 65% being female and 73% falling in the 18-34 age group.

The film likely received a last-minute publicity boost when SAG-AFTRA granted it an interim agreement shortly before the strike concluded on November 9th. This allowed the cast, including Viola Davis, Peter Dinklage, and "Euphoria" star Hunter Schafer, to promote the movie before its release. In contrast, other recent strike-era releases like "Killers of the Flower Moon" or "Dumb Money" struggled without the star power to draw attention to their films.

Lionsgate's head of distribution, Adam Fogelson, expressed satisfaction with the results, saying, "We were a little lighter [than projections] domestically and a little over [projections] internationally, so we’re thrilled with the result. It’ll be a great business result for the studio."

Apart from "Next Goal Wins," the weekend's new releases strategically competed with one another and achieved respectable box office numbers leading up to Thanksgiving. The upcoming weekend promises even more box office competition with the releases of Ridley Scott's historical epic, "Napoleon," and Disney's animated musical, "Wish."

In second place, "Trolls Band Together" met expectations, earning $30.6 million from 3,870 theaters in its opening weekend. It ranks as the third-highest opening for an animated film this year, trailing "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" ($146 million) and "Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse" ($120 million). With an "A" CinemaScore, "Trolls 3" could maintain strong box office performance in the coming weeks.

The family-friendly "Trolls," featuring voices by Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake in an adventure involving an NSYNC-style boy band, had already gained a head start overseas, accumulating $76.3 million in international box office revenue and a global total of $108 million. The film had a production budget of $95 million.

It's difficult to make a direct comparison between "Trolls Band Together" and its predecessor, 2020's "Trolls World Tour," as the latter premiered simultaneously on demand during the pandemic when theaters were largely closed. The first film, "Trolls" (2016), opened with $46 million domestically and ultimately grossed $350 million worldwide.

Director Eli Roth's R-rated slasher film, "Thanksgiving," slightly underperformed expectations with an opening of $10.2 million from 3,204 venues, tying with "The Marvels" for position on the box office charts. However, the film's modest production budget of $15 million suggests it could still turn a profit over the course of its box office run. "Thanksgiving," starring Patrick Dempsey and TikTok star Addison Rae, centers around a mysterious axe-wielding killer terrorizing Plymouth, Mass., following a Black Friday riot that ends in tragedy. It received a "B-" CinemaScore and an impressive 83% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Another horror movie, Universal and Blumhouse's adaptation of the video game "Five Nights at Freddy’s," rounded out the top five with $3.3 million from 2,829 theaters. After four weeks in release, the film, produced on a modest budget, has amassed an impressive $132 million in North America and $271 million worldwide.

Taika Waititi's feel-good sports comedy, "Next Goal Wins," struggled in its domestic debut, landing in sixth place with $2.7 million from 2,240 theaters. Without strong reviews or audience scores (it holds a 41% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a "B+" CinemaScore), the Searchlight film may face challenges in finding success during the crowded holiday season. The movie stars Michael Fassbender and is based on the true story of the American Samoa soccer team and their coach's quest to transform them from perennial losers into champions.

Elsewhere, Martin Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon" dropped to No. 10 with $1.9 million from 1,714 locations in its fifth week