Summary
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakesbox office projections indicate the film might not make an early splash at the box office like its predecessors.
The Hunger Gamesis an action-packed dystopian science fiction franchise comprising a series of films fromLionsgatethat adapted the work of young adult writer Suzanne Collins. The films and books are set in the dystopian society of Panem, beset with hardship and ruled by a wealthy elite few in the Capital who make the poorer districts compete in the eponymous Hunger Games for their amusement. While there weredifferences between theHunger Gamesbooks and movies, the latter became a massive hit, ascending to international recognition alongside lead actress Jennifer Lawrence’s rising star.
While there was quite a stir online whenRachel Zegler joined theHunger Gamesprequelin the lead role, the actress’ opening day draw isn’t a match for the franchise’s prime under Lawrence. According to a new report fromDeadline, the film is projected to open to $50 million at the box office when it makes its theatrical debut in November, making it the lowest opening weekend for any film in the franchise, which has so far racked up around $3 billion in box office earnings across the four existing films. This projection owes a lot of its conservative estimation to Lionsgate’s decision to keep the prequel’s release date despite the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strikes.
The decision to keep the release date was made even though it actively prevented the cast from being able to promote the film in any way due to the terms of the SAG strike. This seems to fly in the face of the theory thatLionsgate planned out theHunger Gamesrenaissancethat sprung forth in tandem with promotional material for the prequel film. While the unpredictable nature of the strike makes indefinitely postponing the release a daunting concept, an intentional approach to building fan anticipation would have examined how much more attention could be brought to the project with the stars' endorsements.
However, the film’s November release date is only weeks away, and the cast will not be on hand to drum up support for the project. This predicament is made worse becauseThe Hunger Gamesprequel cast includes Viola Davisand other notable names that could have drawn in a more varied audience than the franchise core demographic of women 17-34, a group spoilt for choice by the November box office lineup, with Disney’sThe Marvelsand the animated filmWishdirectly serving as theHunger Gamesprequel’s most obvious competition.
Some might say they saw the lackluster opening coming, as the wave of young adult adaptations that seemed so strong a decade ago has long since wound down alongside other trends, making the bold choice of a fresh cast for a prequel film unlikely to yield returns. Whether or not the quality of the film will salvage its box office run or ifCatching Firewill remain the bestHunger Gamesinstallmentremains to be seen.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakesis set for theatrical release on June 19, 2025.
