Last weekend saw a variety of new films open at the box office: Bollywood gangster drama Animal, Trolls Band Together, two concerts in Andre Rieu’s White Christmas and Renaissance: A Film By Beyonce, and Japan’s Godzilla Minus One. Yet it was The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, in its third frame, that drew the largest audience, surpassing last weekend’s no. 1, Napoleon.
Distributed by Roadshow, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes had a healthy hold, dropping just 29 per cent on the previous weekend to $2.4 million, putting it at $14.3 million.
After winning last weekend, Ridley Scott’s Napoleon took a 50 per cent dive in its second outing to $2.03 million, bringing the tally for the AppleTV+ film – distributed theatrically by Sony – to $7.4 million. However, the local hold is better than the US/Canada, where the film tumbled by 66 per cent.
Majestic Cinemas CEO Kieren Dell tells IF he was “certainly surprised” at just how well The Hunger Games prequel held up, while disappointed by the drop off on the Joaquin Phoenix-led Napoleon.
“We thought it may hold up better given it appealed to an older audience,” he says.
The best performer of the newcomers was Forum Distribution’s Animal, a Hindi-language action thriller starring Ranbir Kapoor, which generated $1.96 million from 122 screens. By screen average, it was the best performer in the top 20, grossing $16,051 per screen. The blockbuster, which runs for more than three hours, has topped the box office in India, and globally, was the weekend’s biggest film.
Village Cinemas Geoff Chard tells IF the film was the weekend’s standout performer, with opening results just behind Pathaan and Jawan.
“It’s now on track to being one of the highest-grossing Indian-language films of all time in Australia, with a good shot at overtaking the #1 spot currently held by Pathaan,” he says.
Universal’s Trolls Band Together, the third film in the franchise, opened to $1.7 million from 433 screens, or $2.7 million once last weekend’s previews are added.
That result is well ahead of the COVID-era 2020 opening of Trolls World Tour, which started at $1.9 million with previews (in the US, that film opened on VOD), and just past the 2016 first film, which started at $2.6 million.
The animated musical, which has a voice cast that includes Aussie Troye Sivan, Camila Cabello and Justin Timberlake, opened in North America on November 17 for $US31.2 million, and is now at $US74.8 million. The global tally stands at $US160 million.
Dell predicts the film will pick up through upcoming school screenings and the school holidays, and end up with a solid result.
In the US, Renaissance was last weekend’s no. 1, yet here in Australia, Dutch musical maestro Andre Rieu proved more popular than Queen Bey.
Piece of Magic Entertainment opened Andre Rieu’s White Christmas on 179 screens for $715,622, with encore screenings planned closer to Christmas, while Renaissance, handled by Trafalgar Releasing, opened to $410,655 from 227 screens. Stateside, the Beyonce film, which she also wrote, directed and produced, took $US21 million.
Wallis Cinemas head of programming services David Simpson tells IF that Renaissance‘s MA15+ rating didn’t help its performance, but he was pleased with the result of the Andre Rieu concert, which landed “seamlessly in-line” with his other films. “Andre always comes through.”
In no. 8 behind Saltburn was Sugoi Co’s Godzilla Minus One, which drew $320,841 from 77 screens, or $335,471 with previews. In the US, the film opened to $US11 million, the biggest start for a foreign film this year. In Japan, where it has been in release for three weekends, it stands at $US23.1 million.
Numero data puts the top 20 films at $11.2 million, up 4 per cent on the previous weekend.
Of the holdovers, Warner Bros.’ Saltburn continues to build from strong word of mouth, up 16 per cent in its third to $378,909, advancing to $1.5 million.
Disney’s The Marvels drew $249,555 in its fourth to move to $6.3 million, while Universal’s Five Nights at Freddy’s, which landed in tenth position, is now at $14 million after taking $197,245 in its sixth.
On the local front, New Zealand film Uproar, directed by Paul Middleditch and Hamish Bennett, landed at no. 14 with $102,294 for Kismet, or $155,249.
Transmission’s The Royal Hotel, directed by Kitty Green, dropped 43 per cent in its second weekend to $44,348, putting it at no. 18. The psychological thriller has made $205,293 so far.
Outside of the top 20, Heath Davis’s Christmess opened to $12,029 from 18 screens for Bonsai, or $17,144 with previews.
All Australian box office data is via Numero.