Lionsgate’sHunger Gamesprequel,The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, narrowly missed hitting the $100 million mark at the global box office inits first weekend. But better late than never, because after just four days of release,The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakeshas passed the coveted milestone as it attempts to claw its way back from a franchise-low debut and regain its footing.
With a hair under $50 million domestically and another $56 million from overseas markets, the film has grossed $106 million worldwide as it enters the extended Thanksgiving weekend, where it will have to compete against newcomersNapoleonandWish. Disney’s disappointingThe Marvelsis no longer a factor after a record-low opening and an equally concerning second-weekend drop.The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakestopped the weekend chart in its debut, grossing just under $45 million across three days of release. It made $98 million worldwide.
While this was by far the worst opening of the Hunger Games franchise — the movie made less than half of whatThe Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2grossed in its first weekend back in 2015 —The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakeswasn’t immediately written off for a couple of reasons. First, Lionsgate funded most of the movie through foreign sales and tax credits from the German government. And second, it cost a relatively modest $100 million to produce. With a projected lifetime haul of around $130 million domestically, the movie will be profitable theatrically. But this is nowhere near the kind of numbers thatthe Hunger Games franchisewas routinely hitting in its heyday, when the young-adult genre was the rage thanks to the Twilight Saga. BasedonSuzanne Collins’ dystopian book series, the Hunger Games franchise grossed a combined total of around $2.9 billion worldwide between 2012 and 2015. And now, withThe Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ $106 million included, the series has now passed the $3 billion mark worldwide.
The Hunger Games Series
Global Box Office
Rotten Tomatoes Score
The Hunger Games (2012)
$694 million
Catching Fire (2013)
$865 million
Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014)
$755 million
Mockingjay - Part 2 (2015
$653 million
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
$106 million
Will the Film’s Mixed Reviews Affect Its Box Office?
Reviews for the film have been mixed, more so than even the largely unenthusiastic response thatthe two-part Mockingjay moviesgenerated. BothMockingjayfilms scored 70% approval ratings on the review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, which awarded the first film an 84% score, and the second a 90% score.The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, on the other hand, could only manage to earn a 64% approval rating and a B+ CinemaScore from opening day audiences.
The movie is directed byFrancis Lawrence, who also helmed the second, third and fourthHunger Games films, and tells the origin story of the villainous Coriolanus Snow. Played byTom Blyth, the character strives to restore his family’s lost honor, as he mentors Lucy Gray, a young “tribute” played byRachel Zegler, in the 10th annual Hunger Games — the titular gladiatorial pageant in which teenagers fight to the death for the entertainment of the wealthy, and to win financial security for their community. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakesfollows a young Coriolanus (Tom Blyth) - the last hope for the once-proud Snow family - who is reluctantly assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), a tribute from the impoverished District 12 for the 10th Hunger Games. Snow sets out on a race against time to survive and reveal if he will become a songbird or a snake.
