Theater counts: The Marvels holds on as widest release despite a flurry of newcomers

November 16, 2023

After a much lower than expected start for The Marvels last weekend, the latest Marvel film will remain the widest release this week, while four new wide releases make their way into theaters in time for the Thanksgiving Holiday. The Marvels will hold steady in 4,030 locations this week after collecting just over $46 million during its first three days. While an impressive haul by most standards, it posted the lowest earning opening weekend for an MCU film to date.

As mentioned, four new wide releases make for an exciting weekend at the domestic box office. The largest of these newcomers is the latest from Universal Pictures in Trolls: Band Together. Starting out in 3,870 movie houses, the latest installment of the The Trollsfranchise released internationally in mid-October and currently enjoys an overseas take of $70 million. Band Together hopes to add significantly to the $461 million worldwide franchise total. Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake are back to voice the lovable Trolls, Poppy and Branch, respectively.

Another franchise favorite makes its theatrical debut this weekend with the launch of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. Available in 3,776 cinemas, the fifth feature of the franchise is a prequel to the original film and is the first to not feature Jennifer Lawrence. The series holds an impressive worldwide total of nearly $3 billion from its first four films, averaging a whopping $739 million per feature.

Opening just in time for the holiday is the appropriately named, Thanksgiving. The horror movie follows a mysterious Thanksgiving-inspired killer as they terrorize Plymouth, Massachusetts—birthplace of the holiday. Picking off residents one by one, what begins as random revenge killings are soon revealed to be part of a larger, sinister holiday plan. Thanksgiving is set to release in 3,204 venues.

Lastly, the smallest of our new wide releases is Taika Waititi’s Next Goal Wins. Making its debut in 2,240 locations, the film is based on the 2014 documentary of the same name, and follows a Dutch-American football coach Thomas Rongen, as he is tasked to convert the American Samoa national team into an elite squad. The film stars Michael Fassbender as coach Rongen and features a bevy of actors including Oscar Kightley, Will Arnett, and Elisabeth Moss.

Per usual, the Thanksgiving holiday holds the special treat of films opening midweek, and this year is no exception. Coming to theaters on Wednesday are two highly anticipated films in Napoleon, and Wish. The former is expected to begin its run in approximately 3,300 movie houses, while the latter looks to open in about 3,700 locations.

Note: The theater count for Priscilla is an estimate from Box Office Pro.

Theater Counts for November 17

Estimates for November 22

Filed under: Theater Counts, Hunger Games, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Trolls, Will Arnett, Michael Fassbender, Oscar Kightley, Jennifer Lawrence, Elisabeth Moss, Taika Waititi