“The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” – starring Rachel Zegler – is the top box office leader in its opening weekend with $44 million

The Hunger Games: the ballad of songbirds and snakes The film fought its way to the top of the box office, earning $44 million in its opening weekend after playing in 3,776 theaters.

Starring rising star Rachel Zegler alongside Tom Blyth, the new Hunger Games prequel narrowly missed projections of around $50 million.

In its few days in theaters, “The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes” has now grossed around $99 million worldwide, which, given the roughly $100 million budget, barely breaks even.

“In our own country we were a little lighter and a little older [projections] internationally, so we are happy with the result. It will be a good business result for the studio,” Lionsgate vice chairman Adam Fogelson said of the initial results, as reported by TMZ.

While the opening numbers are a sign that Zegler could be a big hit, it’s still a long way from director Jennifer Lawrence’s original, which earned $152.5 million in its March 2012 opening weekend.

In first place at the box office: “Trolls Band Together,” the third installment in the film series, which earned $30.6 million when it opened in 3,870 theaters.

While box office returns were significantly lower than the original Trolls film (2016), which earned $46.5 million when it premiered, this is the highest opening weekend for a DreamWorks Animation title since the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 has started.

The Marvels and Thanksgiving battled for third place at the box office, with the superhero film narrowly edging out the slasher films to earn $10.2 million in its second weekend.

Supernatural horror film Five Nights At Freddy’s topped the box office over the weekend, earning around $3.5 million. When the film was released in late October, it topped the box office with $78 million in North America and $130 million worldwide. To date, the company has grossed $271.8 million on a $20 million budget.

The new version of Hunger Games, directed by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay by Michael Lesslie and Michael Arndt, is based on the novel The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes (2020) by Suzanne Collins.

It serves as a prequel to The Hunger Games (2012), starring Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci and Donald Sutherland.

It continues the stories from Collins’ young adult novels, but in this installment of the franchise, the scene takes place 60 years before the events of the original film.

Zegler and Blythe lead the new cast, which also includes Hunter Schafer, Josh Andrés Rivera, Peter Dinklage, Jason Schwartzman, Viola Davis, Fionnula Flanagan, Burn Gorman, Ashley Liao, Max Raphael, Zoe Renee, Nick Benson, Isobel Jesper Jones and George Sommerner.

Cast: Zegler stars alongside Tom Blyth in the dystopian action film that precedes The Hunger Games (2012).

Rising Star: The actress, who plays Lucy Gray Baird in the Hunger Games prequel, has been rising to stardom since her role in Steven Spielberg’s musical adaptation of West Side Story (2021).

The first four productions in the dystopian action film franchise were all huge box office hits, starting with the original “The Hunger Games,” which earned $694.4 million on a $78 million budget.

The sequel, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013), made even more money, earning $865 million on a budget between $130 and $140 million.

The third part – “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1” (2014) earned $755.4 million and had a budget of $125-140 million.

And the fourth installment in the series – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015) – saw a slight decline at the box office, earning $653.4 million against a budget of $160 million.

Zegler rose to fame after starring in Steven Spielberg’s musical adaptation of West Side Story (2021).

In distant second place: Trolls Band Together, the third installment in the film series, earned $30.6 million in its premiere in 3,870 theaters, placing it in second place.

The actress has faced some viral backlash following comments she made last year about Snow White that recently surfaced, according to a number of publications including NBC News.

In a now-viral audio clip, Zegler suggested that scenes with her co-star Andrew Burnap, who plays Prince Charming, be cut from the film.

In another clip, she described her version of Snow White as a leader who doesn’t need a prince to save her, which also didn’t sit well with some people.

The 22-year-old New Jersey native will star opposite Gal Gadot as the evil queen in the new musical fantasy film “Snow White,” whose U.S. premiere date has been pushed back to March 21, 2025.