‘Trolls Band Together’ Reclaims Top Spot at U.K., Ireland Box Office

Amazon/MGM’s Saltburn, the dark-comedy sendoff of British upper class, expanded nicely in a big jump from seven screens to 1,566, nabbing a spot in the top ten. The film by Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman) grossed $1.73 million for the three-day weekend and $2.7 million for the five-day Thanksgiving frame thanks to a strong core group of theaters.

“The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” stayed at No. 1 at the box office on Black Friday, retaining the top spot in its second week on the screens.

Brent Lang Executive Editor There’s a good old fashioned box office battle brewing. Disney’s “Wish,” an animated adventure that had been expected to dominate the Thanksgiving holiday is facing off against Lionsgate’s “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” for the top spot over the five-day stretch. And the dystopian prequel, which is currently in its second week of release, is showing impressive resilience against the family flick.

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.

Refresh for latest…: Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes very (very) narrowly missed the $100M mark globally in its opening weekend, but it’s as near as dammit with an estimated $98.5M through Sunday worldwide. The Francis Lawrence-directed prequel came in slightly higher than pre-frame projections overseas with $54.5M from 87 international box office markets. The drag on getting to the century milestone was domestic at $44M versus hopes for $50M+. 

“I think I didn’t realize how lucky I got with this team,” franchise star Anna Kendrick said about DreamWorks Animation‘s Trolls Band Together.

J. Kim Murphy “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” has caught some fire at the domestic box office. Lionsgate’s “Hunger Games” prequel earned about $19.1 million on its opening day from 3,776 locations, a figure that includes $5.75 million in Thursday previews.

Wanna feel old? The Trolls franchise is seven this year and brings with it a whole culture of nostalgia for the late ’90s and early ’00s that to anyone under 40 will seem like a million years ago. The rest of us might remember it as yesterday; a moment in time when boy bands sprang up at the rate of one a week, offering different permutations of The Wild One, The Sensitive One, The Sultry One, The Cute One and, inevitably, The Most Famous One That Left and Threw the Whole Project Into Crisis.

The new Trolls 3 movie is now in theaters and seeing as it’s the third installment in a successful franchise, there’s a good chance another movie could be on the way.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Alibaba, China’s e-commerce and entertainment giant, revealed a 9% revenue improvement and a return to profits in the three months to the end of September, the second quarter of its financial year. The group, which is in the process of breaking itself up into six separate businesses, had revenue of RMB225 billion ($30.8 billion). Net income of RMB26.7 billion ($3.66 billion) compared with a net loss of RMB22.5 billion in the same period last year.

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.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Yes, SAG-AFTRA talks with the AMPTP are ongoing, but there’s still an awards season to track. Honoring the best achievements in film and television, the guild’s highest honor has become a critical bellwether during the awards season. The union has made it clear submitting for awards consideration is not considered a “promotion” under the current strike order.

Merrily We Roll Along, the Sondheim musical revival starring Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez, was Broadway‘s sole sell-out last week, filling every last seat at the Hudson Theatre with an eye-popping average ticket price of $234.40.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “The Boy and the Heron” supposedly the final feature film by Japanese animation maestro Miyazaki Hayao, placed on top of the south Korean box office for a second weekend. It held off challenges from a clutch of new releases, including “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” and “Talk to Me.” “The Boy and the Heron” collected $2.49 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic).

Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, from Apple, Paramount and Imperative Entertainment, has set a milestone, crossing the $100M mark at the global box office through Thursday. As it heads into its third frame, the epic western crime saga is at $102.1M worldwide, including $45.3M domestic and $56.8M from the international box office. 

Cinemark CEO Sean Gamble said Apple and Amazon, two behemoths of the tech world but newcomers to the wide-release movie business, are so far “very pleased” with their results.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Five Nights at Freddy’s” scared up $80 million at the domestic box office in its first weekend of release, above Sunday’s already-huge estimate of $78 million. Universal and Blumhouse released the film, which landed simultaneously on the parent company’s streaming service Peacock. With Monday’s final figures, “Five Nights” has tied Disney’s 2021 Marvel adventure “Black Widow” ($80 million in theaters and $60 million on Disney+) as the biggest opening weekend for a day-and-date streaming release.

The phenomenon that is Universal/Blumhouse’s Five Nights at Freddy’s is currently looking at a global opening of $130M. Fazbear and crew are playing in 64 international box office markets where they are expected to reach $52M through Sunday.

EXCLUSIVE: Lionsgate and Francis Lawrence’s return to the Suzanne Collins franchise with a pic based on her prequel novel is looking like a $50M start on Nov. 17, which is in the vicinity of 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes ($54.8M). While women 17-34 are indeed the hot demo for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, it’s not excessively female as there is interest from males as well. The pic cost around $100M.