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.

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