Box office: Disney’s ‘Wish’ settles for 3rd place against ‘Hunger Games’ prequel and Ridley Scott’s ‘Napoleon’

Edward Douglas
·5 min read
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After one of the crazier Thanksgiving box offices in recent memory, what may have been the usual winner, the Disney animated movie “Wish,” did not end up on top … or even in second place. Read on for the weekend box office report.

Even before the weekend came, it was becoming obvious that Lionsgate’s fantasy prequel “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” might come out victorious over new entries “Wish” and “Napoleon,” and that turned out to be the case. The movie, starring Rachel Zegler, remained #1 for a second weekend in a row with an estimated $28.8 million (down 35%) for the three-day weekend and $42 million for the five-day holiday. It has grossed $98.4 million domestically since opening.

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Ridley Scott‘s historic epic “Napoleon,” starring Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby, opened with $32.5 million in its first five days in 3,500 theaters, coming into the weekend with mixed-positive reviews. It started out this fantastic week with $3 million in Tuesday previews, well ahead of Disney’s “Wish,” and then the two movies spent much of the week maneuvering against each other, but with “Napoleon” winning the three-day weekend with an estimated $20.4 million.

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“Napoleon” made another $46.3 million internationally for a global opening of $78.8 million with the UK leading the way with $6.6 million in its first five days followed by France right behind with $5.6 million during the same period. In fact, it opened in first place in much of Europe, with other standout territories being Germany ($3.4 million) and Spain ($3.3 million). Scott’s movie was also #1 in Mexico with $2.9 million and Brazil with $1.2 million.

That left third place for Disney’s animated “Wish,” which received less positive reviews than “Napoleon” at 50% on Rotten Tomatoes. It barely stayed ahead with $12.2 million through Thanksgiving Day, but then it ended up $2 million less over the three-day weekend, bringing in $19.5 million in 3,900 theaters (the widest release of any movie), and with $31.7 million over the five-day extended holiday. “Wish” still had the best CinemaScore for the weekend with an “A-” compared to “Napoleon’s” “B-.”

Presumably, DreamWorks Animation’s own animated “Trolls Band Together” managed to take quite a bit of family business away from “Wish,” more than many expected, bringing in an estimated $17.5 million (down 43%) in its second weekend and $25.3 million including Wednesday and Thursday, bringing its domestic total to $64.5 million. Overseas, it added another $3.1 million for a global total of $148.5 million.

Eli Roth‘s horror film “Thanksgiving” continued to bring in business despite the holiday being in the rearview mirror, with $11.1 million over the extended five-day weekend and $7.1 million (down 31%) for the three-day weekend to take fifth place.

SEE Box office: All time domestic top-grossing movies

“The Marvels” wasn’t able to hold on against such strong competition, losing over 1,000 theaters on Friday, leaving it in fifth place with $6.4 million over the three-day weekend (down 37%) and $9.2 million over five days. It has only grossed $76.7 million domestically after three weekends. Even the $7.9 million the superhero sequel made overseas this weekend doesn’t help much, as it has only grossed $187.1 million worldwide, with the majority of that coming from overseas.

Alexander Payne‘s “The Holdovers” remained in seventh place with $2.8 million over the three-day weekend, a 2% bump from last weekend as it expanded into 1,601 theaters, with $3.8 million for the extended holiday week, bringing its own total to $12.9 million. We’ll have to see how it holds up next weekend after it’s released to VOD this coming Tuesday.

After a platform release last weekend, MGM expanded Emerald Fennell‘s dark comedic thriller “Saltburn” into 1,566 theaters, but it just had too much competition from stronger fare, putting it on the cusp of the top 10 with $1.7 million over the three-day weekend and $2.7 million including Wednesday and Thursday, to bring its total to just over $3 million. Similar to “Napoleon,” it also received a “B -” CinemaScore.

Although the majority of players had “Wish” topping the charts in their box office predictions, only 42 players picked “Hunger Games” with fewer having it winning the weekend with less than $50 million (again). Most players had “Hunger Games” taking second place, with fewer seeing that horse race between “Napoleon” and “Wish,” and only four players having “Wish” settling for third place. In other words, don’t expect a ton of perfect scores this weekend.

Another week with just one player going 6 for 6 as frequent winner “paulhardister” did just that in the November 17 game with Super Bets on “Thanksgiving” taking third place and “The Marvels” dropping to fourth for a terrific 63,666 points.

There are too many movies opening on Friday to list them all, but “Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé” will be one of the stronger offerings. Check back on Weds and Thursday for the weekend preview and then the rest of Gold Derby’s December box office preview for the rest of the month.

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