Napoleon conquers Wish but gets exiled by the Hunger Games prequel

Ridley Scott's historical epic falls short of The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes in its debut

By Sam Barsanti  |  November 26, 2023 | 10:02pm
Aux News The Hunger Games
Napoleon conquers Wish but gets exiled by the Hunger Games prequel
Napoleon Photo: Apple TV+

November 2023: Napoleon is master of the domestic box office. Only The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes stands before it. Oceans are now battlefields. Or, you know, close enough. Ridley Scott’s Napoleon has successfully defeated every other movie at the U.S. box office this weekend—save for The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes, which won the top spot again in its second week. The numbers are a bit nebulous, because it’s a long holiday weekend and there are different ways to count it, but let’s say the Hunger Games prequel made $28 million (bringing it to nearly $100 million) and Napoleon made $20.4 million in its debut.

One little hair behind Napoleon is Disney’s Wish, which made $19.5 million in its debut, and slightly more and bigger hairs behind that is Trolls Band Together with $17.5 million in its second week (lots of kids movies on the charts this week). Unfortunately, Thanksgiving just barely made it to the top five on the weekend of its namesake, making $7 million for a total of $24 million after two weeks. It’s hard to imagine that movie making any waves beyond late-November.

In the second half of the top 10 we have The Marvels (with a total of $76 million after three weeks), The Holdovers (which is expanding nicely), Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, Five Nights At Freddy’s, and Saltburn (which is also expanding nicely). Smaller movies are back, provided your expectations are carefully measured and/or they’re about Taylor Swift!

Here’s the full top 10 again from Box Office Mojo in handy list form:

  • The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes
  • Napoleon
  • Wish
  • Trolls Band Together
  • Thanksgiving
  • The Marvels
  • The Holdovers
  • Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour
  • Five Nights At Freddy’s
  • Saltburn

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