Hunger Games Prequel On Track for $50M Opening

 Lionsgate has its return to the Hunger Games franchise on track for a $50M opening weekend for its Nov 17 debut. Interestingly, the franchise demographics have also widened since the initial film releases. Brandon Blake, our entertainment lawyer with Blake & Wang P.A. takes a closer look.


Brandon Blake

Lionsgate’s Release Strategy

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is particularly notable in the current box office lineup, as they chose not to move back the release date due to the actors' strike as with many similar properties. This is likely a strategic move, given the shuffling of Dune: Part Two out of the November lineup opens up a lot of screen space- and hopefully less divided audience attention from two key fantasy franchises.

Another $3B Franchise?

Although based on the prequel novel (by Suzanne Collins) set 64 years into the past of Katniss Everdeen’s story, this return to the Hunger Games universe is also being billed as a ‘reboot’ for the franchise itself. The initial four movies earned a cool $3B cumulatively.

 

It also created a lot of buzz earlier this year when the Netflix Rewatch Campaign breathed new life into the franchise, pulling in a considerable number of viewers from TikTok and other youth demographics. With this buzzy climate surrounding it, and a potentially undivided audience thanks to Dune’s exit, it makes sense for Lionsgate to forge ahead. They’re likely still hoping for a quick resolution to the SAG-AFTRA strike, however, to allow them to capitalize on some social media and TV promotion from a star-studded cast.

 

But they have hedged their bets as well, with an interesting choice to heavily promote the official soundtrack’s release on the same day as the film. Currently, we’re seeing much of the marketing around the film hyping the music, no doubt as one of the few promotional lines open to them without actor input. It’s a smart strategy and shows quite a bit of the creativity Lionsgate is known for. We’ll be watching the film's box office performance with interest.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is Kung Fu Panda 4 the Key to a Reinvigorated 2024 Box Office?

Image
 With Dune: Part Two having finally powered up the 2024 box office, it's time to build on that impetus if the wider box office recovery is to continue. There could be another strong contender lurking in the wings for this weekend’s releases- but it will doubtless surprise you to learn that this hope lies with the fourth installment of the animated Kung Fu Panda saga! Blake & Wang P.A. entertainment attorney Los Angeles , Brandon Blake, has more on this ironic twist for us.                                                                          Brandon Blake Two $40M Grosses on the Cards For the first time since July 2023 and the Barbenheimer dual release, we have a chance at not one, but two, films grossing over $40M this weekend. In fact, those figures may top $50M! While Dune: Part Two has had the benefit of massive hype and anticipation, Kung Fu Panda 4 may well turn out to be the more profitable production. Dune: Part Two has already grossed over $100M globally,
Read more

Netflix Ad Tier Turns in Fantastic Growth

Image
 What a difference half a year can make! With Netflix’s ad-supported subscription tier first launched only 18 months ago, the streamer has managed to nearly double its subscriber base since the start of 2024. Blake & Wang P.A. entertainment lawyer , Brandon Blake, fills in the details. Brandon Blake Impressive Subscriber Gains Netflix’s total subscribers for the ad-supported tier now number 40 million monthly active users. In January 2024, it was 23 million. The streamer was understandably gleeful to reveal this news at its first in-person Upfronts presentation in New York earlier this month. At its first-ever Upfronts presentation, which was held digitally in 2023, the ad tier had 5 million monthly active users.   Additionally, we were told that 40% of active signups now opt for the ad-supported plan, in countries where it is currently available. Of course, much of this can be attributed to a rather kind price ($7 domestically) for this tier, well below most of the other
Read more

Hulu on Disney+ is Officially Here

Image
While the Hulu on Disney+ Beta bundle has been live since last year, we have officially reached the point of full integration. Intriguingly, much of the executive focus on the new bundle has been around the technical advancements needed to unite the two platforms. You could take a look at entertainment lawyer Brandon Blake, from Blake & Wang P.A., looks in more depth at the united offering.                                              Brandon Blake Technical Advancements While few viewers are likely to know (or care, frankly) about the backstage technology that powers their viewing experience, Disney executives have been keen to hammer home the potential for happier, healthier subscriber engagement and retention with the new tech shift. They have gone as far as to call it the “most extensive technical advancement” since launch. At this point, it is clear that they are also hoping a more advertiser-appealing platform with better metrics can be leveraged to boost their highly su
Read more