Beyonce’s Movie Wins Opening Weekend at the Box Office

Beyoncé’s new concert movie, Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé, will win its opening weekend at the box office. On an otherwise quiet box office this weekend,  Beyoncé’s movie will open to $22 million. Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé features footage from Beyoncé’s world tour as she performs songs throughout her career. It also offers insight from Beyoncé herself into the creative process of staging and executing on such a grand stage. The film is the latest in a string of big concert films this year, including Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, which has been a significant box office presence for weeks, and the re-release of the Talking Heads movie Stop Making Sense.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will fall into second place with $14.5 million this weekend. The Hunger Games prequel has had stellar box office performance backed by a largely positive critical reception. 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.”

The latest Godzilla movie from Japan, Godzilla: Minus One, makes its stateside debut in third place with $11 million. The film has been a surprising critical darling, earning high marks from nearly everyone.

Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, and Godzilla: Minus One are now in theaters. The list of the top 10 films at the box office this weekend follows.

1. Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé

• Opening Weekend
• Total: $22 million

Pop superstar Beyoncé performs hit songs in concert and discusses the creative process behind her world tour.

Beyoncé Knowles-Carter wrote and directed Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé. The film includes footage of her performing on her Renaissance tour.

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

• Week Three
• Weekend: $14.5 million
• Total: $121.2 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.

3. Godzilla: Minus One

• Opening Weekend
• Total: $11 million

Japan is already devastated by the war when a new crisis emerges in the form of a giant monster.

Takashi Yamazaki wrote and directed Godzilla: Minus One. It stars Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Sakura Ando, and Kuranosuke Sasaki.

4. Trolls Band Together

• Week Three
• Weekend: $7.6 million
• Total: $74.8 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. Wish

• Week Two
• Weekend: $7.4 million
• Total: $41.9 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.

6. Napoleon

• Week Two
• Weekend: $7.1 million
• Total: $45.7 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.

7. Animal

• Opening Weekend
• Total: $6.07 million

A son undergoes a remarkable transformation as the bond with his father begins to fracture, and he becomes consumed by a quest for vengeance.

Sandeep Reddy Vanga wrote and directed Animal. It stars Ranbir Kapoor, alongside Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol, Rashmika Mandanna, and Tripti Dimri.

8. The Shift

• Opening Weekend
• Total: $4.35 million

After a tense encounter with a mysterious stranger who has otherworldly powers, a man gets banished to a parallel Earth where he fights to get back to the woman he loves.

Brock Heasley wrote and directed The Shift. The film stars Kristoffer Polaha, Neal McDonough, Elizabeth Tabish, Rose Reid, John Billingsley, Paras Patel, Jordan Alexandra, and Sean Astin.

9. Silent Night

• Opening Weekend
• Total: $3 million

On Christmas Eve, a man witnesses the death of his young son when the boy gets caught in crossfire between warring gangs. Recovering from a wound that cost him his voice, he soon embarks on a bloody and grueling quest to punish those responsible.

John Woo directed Silent Night from a screenplay by Robert Archer Lynn. it stars Joel Kinnaman, Scott Mescudi, Harold Torres, and Catalina Sandino Moreno.

10. Thanksgiving

• Week Three
• Weekend: $2.63 million
• Total: $28.3 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.