UPDATED, 8:15 AM: Amid all the turmoil in the MCU of late, Disney now has one less battle to fight.
19.11.2023 - 16:22 / variety.com
Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter The odds were ever in favor of “The Hunger Games” prequel “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” which emerged victorious in a busy box office weekend despite opening slightly behind expectations. The film, which brings audiences back to the dystopia of Panem for the first time in nearly a decade, collected $44 million from 3,776 North American theaters in its first weekend of release.
Those initial ticket sales didn’t recapture the spark of the original franchise, which propelled Jennifer Lawerence to global stardom and inspired three sequels. But they were enough to win the weekend over three fellow newcomers, Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s threequel “Trolls Band Together,” Sony’s gory thriller “Thanksgiving” and director Taika Waititi’s sports comedy “Next Goal Wins.” With the glut of new offerings, ticket sales for Disney’s superhero sequel “The Marvels” cratered by 79% to land another ignominious record: the biggest second-weekend drop (by far) in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Before this weekend, “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” withstood the largest decline of the franchise with 69.9%. After notching the worst start in the entire MCU, “The Marvels” tied for third place with $10.2 million from 4,030 theaters, bringing its domestic tally to $65 million.
It’s the rare Marvel movie to underperform at the box office, and part of the problem is that it’s bearing the brunt of the audience’s fatigue toward this sprawling franchise. But at this rate, it may not even match the opening weekend of its predecessor, 2019’s “Captain Marvel” ($153 million), by the end of its theatrical run.
UPDATED, 8:15 AM: Amid all the turmoil in the MCU of late, Disney now has one less battle to fight.
The second season of The Traitors is on its way, with a first look showing host Claudia Winkleman standing among fire, with two mysterious figures behind her. The popular BBC reality show will be back on our screens on Wednesday, 3 January at 9pm on BBC One.The following two episodes will be ready to watch on BBC iPlayer straight after the first episode next year.The show will then be aired on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights.
Beyoncé‘s concert film, Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé, stormed at the box office this weekend, with $21million in ticket sales in North America alone.READ MORE: Beyoncé – ‘Renaissance’ review: a celebration of love and Black joyWritten, directed and produced by the 42-year-old singer herself, the movie focuses on the tour for her Grammy-winning album ‘Renaissance‘.Debuting in 2,539 theatres in the US and Canada, and 94 other territories globally, the movie features guest appearances from Diana Ross, Kendrick Lamar and Megan Thee Stallion.However, the opening did not quite reach the enormous success of the release of Beyonce’s peer and friend, Taylor Swift’s concert movie tour which debuted in October.Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour made a staggering $92.8million in its opening weekend.
Naman Ramachandran Sandeep Vanga Reddy’s blood-soaked Bollywood epic “Animal,” starring Ranbir Kapoor, emerged as the No. 1 film globally with $42.1 million, according to data published by ComScore. “Animal” released across 38 global territories.
Charley Webb stepped out to watch a festive film with her sons on Sunday, days after she was seen without a wedding ring amid her marriage split from Matthew Wolfenden.The former Emmerdale actress, 35, confirmed she had parted ways with the 43 year old actor last week, after months of speculation. Now, Charley has been spending quality time with her children Bowie, seven, and Ace, four, and her pal Sheridan Smith and son Billy, three. They were spotted at the premiere of the Channel 4 film Mog's Christmas in Leicester Square, all wrapped up warm for the freezing temperatures in London.
Bianca Censori and Kanye West are back to their usual romantic outings. The celebrity couple seem to have relocated to Dubai following a rumored short break in their relationship, with the Australian architect wearing one of her controversial fashion ensembles.KANYE WEST AND BIANCA CENSORI BACK TOGETHER AFTER APPARENT ULTIMATUMBIANCA CENSORI REUNITES WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY IN MELBOURNE WITHOUT KANYE WESTKANYE WEST SURPRISED FANS WITH HIS FIRST CONCERT IN MONTHS IN DUBAIThis time Bianca decided to go for a brown long-sleeved micro dress, pairing the look with clear heels to attend designer Amina Muaddi’s pop-up store alongside her husband, who wore an all-black ensemble, including a leather coat and matching boots.Bianca’s revealing outfit is only one of her latest sheer looks, however, it was her fur hat and her stuffed animal accessory that stole the show during their outing.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes.Directed by Francis Lawrence, the prequel is set 64 years prior to the first film and depicts the events that led Coriolanus Snow (originally played by Donald Sutherland) to become the tyrannical leader of Panem.Tom Blyth plays the young Snow, who is assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler) in the 10th Hunger Games.It’s the fifth film in series, following 2012’s The Hunger Games, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part One and Part Two.There are currently no announced plans for another film in the franchise. Producer Nina Jacobson, who has overseen all five Hunger Games films, has said she is uninterested in making another instalment unless author Suzanne Collins writes another story.“If [Collins] had a story in this world with something she wanted to talk about, something to explore, then great,” Jacobson told Polygon in summer 2023.
Taika Waititi has revealed that former US President, Donald Trump, issued a “list of demands” surrounding his brief appearance in NBC’s 2012 Super Bowl advert.The video features stars of the network, including The Office’s Steve Carell, Parks And Recreation’s Amy Poehler and 30 Rock’s Alec Baldwin. In the video, the actors are seen singing ‘Brotherhood Of Man’ from the 1961 musical, How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying.Trump, who at the time was hosting The Apprentice (US) can be briefly seen wearing a suit, looking into the camera, as he points and says the word, “you”.Waititi, who directed the advert, appeared on a recent episode of the SmartLess podcast hosted by Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes, where he shared that the former president’s appearance came with some conditions.“There was a piece of paper with a list of [Trump’s] demands,” the Jojo Rabbit director shared.
The highly-anticipated The Couple Next Door aired on Channel 4 on Monday night.
Zack Sharf Digital News Director With “Twilight” celebrating its 15th anniversary this month, director Catherine Hardwicke joined the “Happy Sad Confused” spinoff podcast “Watchalong” to remember all the highs and lows that went into getting the vampire romance made. One of her more interesting revelations revolves around how impossible it was to predict the film’s box office. No one was expecting a phenomenon, and Hardwicke was even told her film would probably never crack the $30 million mark.
Broadway box office took a 7% slide in the week before the Thanksgiving holiday, with the 29 shows settling in at a total $27,060,113 in receipts.
sat down for a discussion with current emcee Stephen Colbert at Manhattan’s Ed Sullivan Theater on Monday.Letterman’s appearance as a guest on Colbert’s show was his first since he departed the “Late Show” in 2015 after a 22-year run. The two men just spent the segment happily chatting, with Colbert, 59, asking if Letterman longs to be back on his “Late Show” stage.“I miss everything,” the comedian confessed.“Mostly it’s fun. Very few things in life provide one the opportunity — and I can’t speak for you or to you on this topic — But for me, if you muck one up, 24 hours later you get to try again,” he added.
Jennifer Lawrence, describing her as “so unbelievably kind”.Zegler plays Lucy Gray Baird in The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes, a prequel to the original four movies where Lawrence played Katniss Everdeen.Speaking on The Kelly Clarkson Show, Zegler explained that she met Lawrence during Paris Fashion Week this year.“We were at Paris Fashion Week for the Dior show only a couple weeks ago,” Zegler said. “I didn’t want to be weird.
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Mystery-horror film “Five Nights at Freddy’s” landed on top of the South Korean cinema box office. But fellow new release title “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songs and Snakes” managed only a fourth placed start. “Five Nights” earned $1.78 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council.
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Local crime drama film “Last Suspect” returned to the top spot at the mainland China box office over the latest weekend, as “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” opened quietly in third place. Narrowly beaten last week by “The Marvels,” “Last Suspect” climbed one place while “The Marvels” fell out of the top five in China. In its third weekend of release, “Last Suspect” recorded $10.1 million (RMB76 million), according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway.
EXCLUSIVE: Getting a leg-up here on our Thanksgiving stretch preview, Apple Studios production of Ridley Scott’s Napoleon will invade the global box office via Sony this Wednesday, in what’s shaping up to be a $46M WW global start.
Zack Sharf Digital News Director Welcome back to Panem! “The Hunger Games” franchise is officially revived with the release of “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” a prequel film set many years before the rise of Katniss Everdeen. Based on the Suzanne Collins novel of the same name, the prequel centers on a young Coriolanus Snow as his experience mentoring District 12 tribute Lucy Gray Baird in the 10th Hunger Games shapes him into the villain fans of the franchise know well.
Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Hunger Games” prequel “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” is expected to emerge victorious in this weekend’s box office battle royale. It’s competing against two fellow newcomers, Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s threequel “Trolls Band Together” and Sony’s gory thriller “Thanksgiving,” in this crowded pre-Turkey Day corridor.
Broadway began its trek into the lucrative holiday season last week at a steady clip, with the 28 shows grossing a total of $29,163,440 for the week ending November 12. That’s up about 10% over the previous week, though down about the same percentage from last year at this time.
Caroline Brew editor “Willy Wonka, Wonka,” Timothée Chalamet blurts out, interrupting Bowen Yang in a promo for the “Saturday Night Live” show he is hosting this week. The reason why? “Sorry, the actors strike just ended, I can finally promote my movie,” he explains. The historic 118-day strike ended at 12:01 a.m.