By Ron Wynn
NASHVILLE, TN — Concert films are proving a big draw this season as theatrical releases. Over the weekend the biggest high profile and most successful film released was “Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé,” It was the followup to “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” though it opened in over 1,000 fewer theaters than “Eras” did. “Renaissance” opened in 2,539 theaters on Friday, the movie brought in an estimated $21 million to lead the weekend. Audiences gave it an “A+” on CinemaScore, same as “The Eras Tour.” “Renaissance” made another $6.4 million overseas for a global opening of $27.4 million.
Lionsgate’s hit prequel “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” took second place with $14.5 million, down 50 percent from Thanksgiving weekend, but bringing its domestic total to $121.2 million, making it the first movie since “Five Nights at Freddy’s” in October to cross the $100 million mark.
Venerable Japanese studio Toho Entertainment took North American distribution into their own hands for the prequel “Godzilla Minus One,” which opened in 2,308 theaters Friday after receiving stellar reviews. After making $2.1 million in Wednesday and Thursday previews (rolled into its $4.7 million Friday), the monster movie ended up with an estimated $11 million, averaging $4,779 per location. Audiences enjoyed the movie enough to give it an “A” CinemaScore, the same rating as 2021’s “Godzilla vs. Kong.”
Next was DreamWorks Animation’s “Trolls Band Together” in fourth with $7.6 million, down 57 percent from Thanksgiving weekend, to bring its domestic total to $74.8 million. Adding in the $85.8 million it has grossed overseas, it has taken in $160.6 million globally.
It edged out Disney’s “Wish,” which barely hung onto fifth place with $7.4 million, down 62 percent from last weekend. It’s almost unheard of for a Disney animated movie to drop out of the top five in its second weekend, so that’s a relief, although its $41.9 million grossed domestically in 10 days is nothing to write home about. (Marvel’s “The Marvels” was bumped right out of the top 10 in its fourth weekend, also something we rarely see, as it’s likely to be the very first Marvel Studios movie not to make $100 million domestically.)
Ridley Scott‘s “Napoleon” added another $7.1 million to its domestic take for sixth place, down a whopping 65 percent from its opening weekend, to bring its North American total to $45.7 million. It made another $28.6 million overseas this weekend to bring its global total to $91 million. The Bollywood film “Animal” opened in 700 theaters on Friday and managed to bring in $6.1 million, an average of $8,771 per theater, which was better per location than Beyoncé’s movie. Angel Studios released the sci-fi thriller “The Shift” into 2,450 theaters. It ended up on the lower end of the top 10 in eighth place with an estimated $4.4 million.
Hong Kong filmmaker John Woo‘s return to Hollywood with the holiday revenge thriller “Silent Night,” starring Joel Kinnaman, made $3 million this weekend to end up in ninth place.
Eli Roth‘s “Thanksgiving,” the other holiday genre film in theaters, closed out the top 10 with $2.6 million, down 63 percent with a total of $28.4 million, just after the filmmaker announced that a sequel is in development.
Nicolas Cage‘s “Dream Scenario” expanded nationwide into 1,578 theaters on Friday, where it grossed $1.7 million for a total of $3.5 million. Emerald Fennell‘s “Saltburn” remained in a similar number of theaters, but it held up well from Thanksgiving, dropping just 16% to $1.6 million, also outside the top 10.
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