The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes Wins Thanksgiving Weekend Box Office

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes will win its second box office weekend, topping the chart over the long Thanksgiving holiday. The Hunger Games prequel, adapted from the novel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins, earned $11.4 million on Black Friday, leading to a take of $28.8 million in its second three-day frame and $42 million over the entire extended holiday weekend. The Hunger Games prequel’s cume is on track to surpass $100 million by Monday. Whether that will spark new life for remains an open question. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes tells of how Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) took his first steps on the path to becoming the dictator ruling over Panem, which involves his relationship with Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zeglar), a tribute participating in the 10th Hunger Games.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes . ComicBook.com’s Jamie Jirak awarded the film 4.5 out of 5 possible stars in their review. She writes:

“If you’re a fan of The Hunger Games, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is going to transport you back to Panem with great ease. The film is daring, engaging, tense, and even occasionally funny. It’s no easy feat to make a prequel that’s just as good, if not better, than the films that came before. However, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes manages to outshine both Mockingjay films while giving The Hunger Games and Catching Fire a run for their money. Not only is The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes faithful to the book, but it showcases one of the best casts of the year. If you have any affection for this franchise, you won’t want to miss the newest installment on the big screen.”

Following behind The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes are holiday weekend openers Napoleon in second and Wish closely behind in third. Napoleon is an epic historical biopic directed by Ridley Scott, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby. It will earn $32.5 million over the holiday. Wish is the latest release from Disney Animation. It will open to $31.7 over the Thanksgiving weekend.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, Napoleon and Wish are playing in theaters now. The list of the top 10 films at the box office this weekend follows.

1. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

• Week Two
• Holiday Weekend: $42 million
• Total: $98.3 million

Years before he becomes the tyrannical president of Panem, 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow remains the last hope for his fading lineage. With the 10th annual Hunger Games fast approaching, the young Snow becomes alarmed when he’s assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird from District 12. Uniting their instincts for showmanship and political savvy, they race against time to ultimately reveal who’s a songbird and who’s a snake.

Francis Lawrence directed The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes from a screenplay by Michael Lesslie and Michael Arndt, based on the 2020 novel by Suzanne Collins. It stars Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Peter Dinklage, Jason Schwartzman, Hunter Schafer, Josh Andrés Rivera, and Viola Davis.

2. Napoleon

• Opening Weekend
• Total: $32.5 million

A look at the military commander’s origins and his swift, ruthless climb to emperor, viewed through the prism of his addictive and often volatile relationship with his wife and one true love, Josephine.

Ridley Scott directed Napoleon from a screenplay by David Scarpa, based on the true life story of Napoleon Bonaparte. The film stars Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby.

3. Wish

• Opening Weekend
• Total: $31.7 million

Young Asha makes a wish so powerful that it’s answered by a cosmic force, a little ball of boundless energy called Star. With Star’s help, Asha must save her kingdom from King Magnifico and prove that when the will of one courageous human connects with the magic of the stars, wondrous things can happen.

Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn directed Wish from a screenplay by Jennifer Lee and Allison Moore. The film’s voice cast includes Ariana DeBose, Chris Pine, Alan Tudyk, Angelique Cabral, Victor Garber, Natasha Rothwell, Jennifer Kumiyama, Harvey Guillén, Evan Peters, Ramy Youssef, and Jon Rudnitsky.

4. Trolls Band Together

• Week Two
• Holiday Weekend: $25.3 million
• Total: $64.4 million

Poppy discovers that Branch and his four brothers were once part of her favorite boy band. When one of his siblings, Floyd, gets kidnapped by a pair of nefarious villains, Branch and Poppy embark on a harrowing and emotional journey to reunite the other brothers and rescue Floyd from a fate even worse than pop culture obscurity.

Walt Dohmco-directed Trolls World Tour, with Tim Heitz co-directing, from a screenplay by Elizabeth Tippet. The film’s voice cast includes Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Zooey Deschanel, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Icona Pop, Anderson .Paak, Ron Funches, Kenan Thompson, Kunal Nayyar, Walt Dohrn, Eric André, Kid Cudi, Daveed Diggs, Troye Sivan, Camila Cabello, Amy Schumer, Andrew Rannells, RuPaul and Zosia Mamet.

5. Thanksgiving

• Week Two
• Holiday Weekend: $11.1 million
• Total: $24.1 million

An axe-wielding maniac terrorizes residents of Plymouth, Mass., after a Black Friday riot ends in tragedy. Picking off victims one by one, the seemingly random revenge killings soon become part of a larger, sinister plan.

Eli Roth directed Thanksgiving from a screenplay by Jeff Rendell, based on the story from Roth’s fake trailer in the 2007 movie Grindhouse. It stars Patrick Dempsey, Addison Rae, Milo Manheim, Jalen Thomas Brooks, Nell Verlaque, Rick Hoffman, and Gina Gershon.

6. The Marvels

• Week Three
• Holiday Weekend: $9.2 million
• Total: $76.9 million
  

In The Marvels, which arrived in theaters on November 10th, Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) has reclaimed her identity from the tyrannical Kree and taken revenge on the Supreme Intelligence. But unintended consequences see Carol shouldering the burden of a destabilized universe. When her duties send her to an anomalous wormhole linked to a Kree revolutionary, her powers become entangled with that of Jersey City super-fan, Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) aka Ms. Marvel, and Carol’s estranged niece, now S.A.B.E.R. astronaut Captain Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris). Together, this unlikely trio must team-up and learn to work in concert to save the universe as “The Marvels.” The Marvels will also see the franchise returns of Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Saagar Shaikh as Aamir Khan, Zenobia Shroff as Muneeba Khan, and Mohan Kapur as Yusuf Khan. New cast members include Zawe Ashton, Park Seo-joon, and Shamier Anderson. Produced by Marvel Studios, The Marvels is directed by Nia DaCosta with a script from DaCosta, Megan McDonnell, and Elissa Karasik.

7. The Holdovers

• Week Five
• Holiday Weekend: $3.75 million
• Total: $12.9 million

A curmudgeonly instructor at a New England prep school remains on campus during Christmas break to babysit a handful of students with nowhere to go. He soon forms an unlikely bond with a brainy but damaged troublemaker, and with the school’s head cook, a woman who just lost a son in the Vietnam War.

Alexander Payne directed The Holdovers from a screenplay by David Hemingson. It stars Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and Dominic Sessa.

8. Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour

• Week Seven
• Holiday Weekend: $2.7 million
• Total: $178.4 million
  

The cultural phenomenon continues as pop icon Taylor Swift performs hit songs in a once-in-a-lifetime concert experience.

9. Saltburn

• Week Two
• Holiday Weekend: $2.8 million
• Total: $3 million

A student is invited to an eccentric classmate’s estate for an exciting summer.

Emerald Fennell wrote and directed Saltburn. It stars Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Alison Oliver, Archie Madekwe, and Carey Mulligan.

10. Next Goal Wins

• Week Two
• Holiday Weekend: $2.55 million
• Total: $5.7 million
  

With the 2014 World Cup qualifiers approaching, down-on-his-luck coach Thomas Rongen tries to turn the American Samoa soccer team into winners.

Taika Waititi directed Next Goal Wins from a screenplay he co-wrote with Iain Morris, based on the 2014 documentary of the same name. It stars Michael Fassbender, Oscar Kightley, Kaimana, David Fane, Rachel House, Beulah Koale, Will Arnett, and Elisabeth Moss.