Maybe this Thanksgiving, Hollywood isn’t feeling so jolly.
Although Turkey Day is usually a busy time for moviegoers, the box office is suffering from too much tryptophan since fewer people are coming to the movies during this holiday season. Disney’s “Wish,” in this sleepy state of play, took in a meager $8.3 million on Wednesday. It took a whopping $200 million to develop the animated film, which narrates the tale of the wishing star that appears significantly in subsequent Disney adventures. The film’s expense and the disappointing estimated revenue of over $37 million for the five-day period further indicate that the studio is stuck in a creative and business rut.
Disney, a company that was once associated with Teflon, has experienced difficulties retaining its fan bases in both its Marvel and animation businesses. As with “Elemental,” which debuted poorly but ended up finishing far stronger than its weak opening weekend would have suggested, the expectation with “Wish” is that families will seek out the movie over the holiday season, making up for its modest start.
Apple Original Productions, “Napoleon,”
The $200 million Ridley Scott epic “Napoleon,” from Apple Original Productions, took second spot with $7.7 million on Wednesday’s box office. Over the course of the five days, it is anticipated to make more than $30 million. “Napoleon” is expected to bring in about $65 million worldwide. On the one hand, it’s a respectable sum given that the movie is more than two hours long, has an R rating, and is about a legendary military genius from the past, but the expense is staggering.
It also portends future developments for the film industry, which is currently having difficulty updating its business plans for the age of streaming. A result like that could be concerning for a traditional movie studio, one that is focused on things like earnings and losses, as it could indicate a lot of red ink that needs to be cleaned up. However, Apple, whose market capitalization is about $3 trillion, would rather consider these expenses to be marketing expenses. It aims to create excitement around its streaming service, Apple TV+.
The industry, at least, decided to interpret the box office performance of Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” which Apple paid $200 million to produce but only brought in less than $150 million worldwide. While it’s uncertain if Tim Cook and his team will continue to view this as a successful approach, exhibitors are undoubtedly pleased that Apple is essentially supporting their business in an effort to increase the visibility of the films it releases. Critics have given Scott’s historical drama, which stars Joaquin Phoenix as the French dictator, mixed reviews. The film is being distributed by Sony Pictures for Apple.
Lionsgate’s “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”
Lionsgate’s “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” came in third with a $7.3 total that brought its domestic total to about $63.6 million. It hasn’t been as profitable to return to Panem as the first series. The prequel is expected to earn $40 million by the end of the five-day run. “The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” had a $100 million production budget, which is a reasonable amount for a movie that is expected to be a hit, in contrast to its costly rivals.
As things stand, “The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” has a good chance of surpassing “Wish” to become the biggest-grossing movie of the week during the five-day holiday. That would cause quite a stir. The “Hunger Games” prequel is expected to gross around $100 million at the American box office by the end of the week, even if it falls slightly short. “Trolls Band Together” from Universal and DreamWorks Animation came in fourth place with $5.1 million. Over the course of the five days, it should make $27 million, increasing its total earnings to $66 million.
Thanksgiving from TriStar and Spyglass Media came in fifth place as a result. The horror movie with a Christmas theme made $1.8 million on Wednesday, and over the next five days, it should make $10.1 million, bringing its total domestic gross to $23.2 million. The most recent Marvel comic book adventure, “The Marvels,” made $1.5 million on Wednesday, furthering its downward trend. This results in a less-than-heroic $69.1 million domestic gross for the film, which is terrible news for Marvel.
Summary
This year, Thanksgiving is predicted to surpass the previous two post-pandemic editions, bringing in around $190 million. That would surpass the five-day total in 2021, which was $142.7 million, as well as the total in 2022, which was $142.7 million. Even if it surpasses those numbers, Thanksgiving revenue in 2023 will be significantly lower than in 2019 ($263.4 million in total revenue) or in 2018 ($315.6 million, a record-breaking amount of revenue).
It’s obvious that there is still a lot of ground to cover.
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