The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes Box Office Previews Launching Around $6 Million

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes has launched in theaters and has already earned $6 million in Thursday Night Previews. 

Box office tracking for The Hunger Games Prequel began with Thursday afternoon showings starting at 3 pm – a sign that Lionsgate is betting on the film's release in proximity to the Thanksgiving holiday, and the wave of young adult viewers now getting done with college and school classes. It's also clear that there is still a considerable built-in audience for the Hunger Games movie franchise, even without previous stars like Jennifer Lawrence or Liam Hemsworth being involved. 

Earnings for Thursday night debuts remain roughly the same week-over-week, with The Marvels debuting to $6.6M in preview showings last week – before becoming the MCU's lowest opener. The Marvels and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes hold almost exactly the same Rotten Tomatoes critics' score (62% and 63% respectively), with The Hunger Games holding a higher audience score at this time (90% to The Marvels' 84%). It is interesting that The Hunger Games prequel is fairing that well with audiences since it runs a length of 2 hours and 37 minutes, but clearly, time is not keeping people away from the theater. 

Word of mouth on The Hunger Games Prequel at least hints that the film could have legs in the coming weeks. West Side Story breakout Rachel Zegler seems to be solidifying her star status with her performance as Lucy Gray Baird (the new Katniss Everdeen); meanwhile, lead actor Tom Blyth is gaining acclaim and praise for pulling off a challenging and nuanced performance as a young President Coriolanus Snow. The real test will be seeing if The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes – and its more adult-themed story – can catch on with enough mainstream adult viewers to essentially function as a new film (branding-wise), rather than the continuation of a previous franchise. Like the subject matter of the film (exploring Snow's evolution into a villain), it's a tricky balancing act to pull The Hunger Games audience of the 2010s back into the theater with franchise content that now appeals to their older age. 

In her review of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Jamie Jirak wrote: 

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 Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is now in theaters.