People Still Hangry for Hunger Games - Week 2

It’s been eight years since Jennifer Lawrence retired her Katniss Everdeen bow for good. The last Hunger Games movie, Mockingjay Part 2,  opened with $102 million. The new prequel didn’t reach the same heights, yet it showed people are still interested with what’s on the menu.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of the Songbirds and the Snakes debuted with a $44.6 million. Sure, it may seem like a steep drop, but with an all-new cast and a story only the most hardcore stans were familiar with, things could have been a lot worse (BTW, worse is what we’ll talk about when I get to The Marvel’s second week… yowsa!). This film has its own lane for the next few weeks, so if former fans find themselves curious, it might have enough to stay on a Top 5 path. 

Trolls Band Together came together for a $30 million opening. That’s a little less than the original’s $45 million start and you could assume this one will finish with less than that film’s $150 million total. Still, for parents who want to take their kids to the Boy Band Lollapalooza event of the season, this is The Right Stuff for them. They Want it That Way. Backstreet’s Back, Alright?

Thanksgiving came early for horror fans as Eli Roth’s obsession with making a real movie out of a fake trailer came true. Sadly, horror never usually plays a factor in Summer or Holiday Blockbuster Pools. As much as I enjoyed this poultry product, a $10 million slice is all they could plate this weekend. The movie itself could have an annual cult following that wants to watch this every season, but this wasn’t the seasoning most filmgoers wanted on their bird this year. 

Also, Next Goal Wins showed how even warm-hearted, small- budgeted, independent movies don't hold much sway when it comes to Blockbuster Pools as it's $2.5 million start will not make a "win" this year.

Meanwhile, the only film from last week did not only wilt under the new competition. It withered and died before our very eyes. I can only imagine the Disney executive’s blood vessels pop as they were seeing the daily numbers come in and the historic drops for an MCU movie. 

The Marvels dropped a whole, I can’t even believe it, 78%!!! in its second weekend. Again, for new poolers, normal successful films drop around 40-50%. Blockbuster debuts can drop heavier, 50-60%, because so many folks wanted to see it opening weekend. Drops of 70% are historic levels of “literally no one else wanted to see this movie outside of the core opening weekend.” And THIS was an almost 80% drop!!! It was a $10.1 million weekend after a $46 million debut. I can’t even remember any big budgeted film.

The closest major studio film I could find was an 81% drop for Gigli in 2003, yet that film didn’t cost close to the nine-figure budget of The Marvels. The highest budgeted film I could find on the “biggest drop-off list” was this summer’s The Flash which dropped 72.1%. Now, you can drop a lot and still be a massive hit. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2 dropped 72%, but finished with over $380 million (everyone wanted to see it opening weekend). The Marvels was clearly not that film. 

At this point, I think Disney’s even closer to doing a Thanos snap and restarting the MCU all over again… and at this point, I think a lot of fans agree. 

 

The Top Five If Today Was MLK Day:

#1. The Marvels - $64.9 million

#2. The Hunger Games: TBoS&S - $44.6

#3. Trolls Band Together - $30 million

#4. Thanksgiving - $10 million

#5. Next Goal Wins - $2.5 million