In a surprising turn of events, Walt Disney’s highly anticipated animated feature, Wish, failed to meet expectations at the holiday weekend box office, dealing a blow to the House of Mouse.
Instead, it was Lions Gate Films’ latest installment in The Hunger Games franchise, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, that stole the show. According to Comscore, the film secured the top spot in the three-day box office rankings, raking in an impressive $28.8 million domestically in its second week. Following closely behind was Sony’s thrilling new release, Napoleon, which made an impressive debut with $20.4 million in opening weekend domestic sales.
Unfortunately for Disney, Wish was only able to secure third place with $19.5 million in domestic ticket sales, falling short of expectations. Even during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, when Disney once reigned supreme, the underperformance of Wish was described as “disappointing” by Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore’s senior media analyst. He did, however, mention that there is still hope for the film to gain momentum in the coming weeks.
This recent turn of events serves as a reminder that Disney’s domination of the holiday box office is no longer guaranteed. Nevertheless, Dergarabedian highlighted a positive aspect of the weekend: the variety of film offerings and the overall increase in sales indicate that both Hollywood and the exhibition industry are continuing their recovery.
As the box office landscape continues to evolve, only time will tell if this marks a turning point for Disney’s traditional holiday success.
Box Office Sales on Holiday Weekend
The recently concluded five-day holiday weekend, spanning from Wednesday to Sunday, witnessed an estimated $172 million in domestic box office sales, according to Comscore. While this figure falls short of the record-breaking $315.6 million in sales achieved in 2018, it marks a notable increase from last year’s $122.8 million.
Currently, domestic box office sales for 2023 have reached an impressive $8.242 billion, approaching industry expectations of hitting $9 billion this year. Although this figure is lower than the pre-pandemic years’ $11 billion, it is considered a significant positive sign for the film industry’s recovery, according to Dergarabedian.
It is worth noting that there are approximately 20 fewer wide-release films released this year compared to the same period in 2019. However, with recent resolutions of strikes involving actors and writers, Hollywood is optimistic about getting back on track.
For Disney, this past weekend’s performance comes merely three weeks after the release of The Marvels, the 33rd installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero films. Unfortunately, the debut of The Marvels fell short of expectations, ranking sixth for the three-day holiday weekend, as reported by Comscore.
Furthermore, Comcast-owned Universal’s Trolls Band Together secured the fourth spot during the Thanksgiving weekend, grossing $17.5 million in domestic box office sales. Meanwhile, Sony’s Thanksgiving claimed the fifth position with sales amounting to $7.1 million.
