The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes may not have opened at the heights seen for the rest of the franchise, but it still gave exhibitors a needed boost last weekend.
The prequel, distributed by Roadshow, debuted to $5.1 million from 586 screens, or $5.5 million with previews. It was far and away the weekend’s leading title, capturing 54 per cent market share.
In North America, the film opened slightly behind expectations at $US44 million, and is at $US98.5 million globally, having premiered in 87 markets so far.
Not adjusting for inflation, the original Hunger Games opened at $9.1 million in 2012, while 2013’s Catching Fire bowed at $12.5 million. Mockingjay – Part 1 landed at $11.9 million in 2014, and Part 2 $9.85 million the year after.
Village Cinemas head of content Geoff Chard notes the weekend for the film was solid, given it came in pro-rata above the US.
“We’re hopeful of a solid theatrical run all the way through to Christmas,” he tells IF.
Majestic Cinemas CEO Kieren Dell tells IF The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes opened reasonably for his regional NSW and Queensland-based circuit, doubling that of The Marvels‘ debut last weekend, and getting good feedback from customers. However, it was still a “slower than hoped weekend”.
“It was never expected to match the original films, but nevertheless it was a bit further behind them than we had hoped it would be,” he says.
The weekend’s other new releases included Sony slasher Thanksgiving, which landed at no.5 after mustering a very modest $354,519 from 257 screens, or $385,261 with previews. The Australia numbers are far lower, pro-rata, than those seen Stateside, where the film debuted at $US10.2 million. Dell notes the film was “heavily impacted” by its R18+ rating at his sites, while Wallis Cinemas head of programming services David Simpson tells IF it “vanished from sight instantly”.
Emerald Fennell’s second feature as a director, Saltburn, was just behind with $341,054 from 134 screens, or $368,322 with previews. With a screen average of $2,545 it was the weekend’s third highest performer per site after The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and Tiger 3.
In the US, the Amazon MGM Studios title started in just seven theatres for $U$315,492, a whopping screen average of $45,000.
Local distributor Warner Bros said it “optimised” the film’s release in Australia to “upscale, quality locations”, and that it had ranked at no. 1 or no. 2 at the majority.
The leading site for the Jacob Elordi and Barry Keoghan-starrer was Melbourne’s Cinema Nova, following on from its nation-best result on Fennell’s debut Promising Young Woman.
“The film also has a special connection to the cinema, as a former colleague – Bronte Payne – is a co-producer on the film, plus Jacob Elordi is not a stranger to the venue,” CEO Kristian Connelly tells IF.
Simpson says Wallis was satisfied with the results of the film though they were “further down than we were hoping.”
Similarly, Chard says the results for both Saltburn and Thanksgiving were on the lower side of what Village was expecting, “but the phenomenal WOM on Saltburn should help sustain the film and see a very small drop, or possibly even an increase, into weeks 2 & 3.”
Overall the top 20 titles tallied $8.9 million, up 33 per cent on the previous weekend, according to Numero data.
Of the holdover titles, Disney’s The Marvels dropped a steep 64 per cent in its second weekend to just over $1 million, advancing the film to $4.9 million. Still, the dip was better than in the US, where it stumbled 78 per cent.
Five Nights at Freddy’s drew $676,812 across its fourth frame, with the Universal horror now $13.1 million overall. Globally, the Blumhouse title has surpassed The Nun II to become the highest grossing horror of the year at $US271.8 million.
In fourth position was Mindblowing Films’ Indian action thriller Tiger 3, which was up 35 per cent in its second frame to $454,426, advancing to $1.3 million.
Behind Saltburn at no. 7 was Paramount’s Killers of the Flower Moon, now at $7.2 million overall after taking $302,402 in its fifth frame.
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, distributed by Trafalgar Releasing, has reached $8.9 million after six weekends, having brought in an extra $166,759.
Paramount animation PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie remained in ninth position across its ninth weekend, with $95,157 bumping the film to $8.4 million.
Rounding out the top 10 was Madman’s remastered version of 1984 Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense, which dropped a significant 72 per cent in its second weekend to $80,682, moving to $481,349.
Australian documentary Bromley: Light After Dark, distributed by Madman, opened just outside the top 20 with $11,809 from 24 screens, bringing it to $70,868 with previews/festival screenings.
Fellow doc Mutiny in Heaven: The Birthday Party, distributed by Label, was the next best local performer, ringing up $9,688 in its fourth weekend to move to $149,834.
Madman animation Scarygirl, also in its fourth weekend, collected $8,426 after losing 91 screens, moving to $315,428.
Bonsai Films opened A Savage Christmas on 13 screens for $6,554, putting the Madeleine Dyer film at $11,178 with preview screenings.
A one-off, independent screening of 1983’s Phar Lap drew $6,540, while Transmission’s Foe dropped 77 per cent in its third weekend to $5,235, moving the Garth Davis film to $159,360.
Wallis Releasing doc Isla’s Way took $5,003 in its second frame, dropping 59 per cent, and tallies $21,706 overall.
This weekend sees Ridley Scott’s Napoleon, starring Joaquin Phoenix, hit cinemas; the AppleTV+ film will be distributed theatrically by Sony.
“The Napoleon pre-sales are looking very strong at this point, significantly ahead of recent comparable films. The older-skewing audience combined with the Ridley Scott factor is ensuring Napoleon is a must-see in Gold Class and Vmax,” Chard says.
Connelly says Cinema Nova is looking forward to the title, opening the film on three screens “to enable suitable session times” given the 2 hour and 38 minute runtime; Killers of the Flower Moon is also on three screens for the venue, for whom it is about to hit the milestone of $100,000.