‘Wish’ Flies Past ‘Napoleon’ at Thanksgiving Eve Box Office

It looks like we’re heading for a sleepy Thanksgiving at the box office this year if Thanksgiving Eve is anything to go by. While this time of year is traditionally a busy one for the multiplexes, the Wednesday evening before Turkey Day is hinting at something more akin to lying on the sofa with a full belly and little energy. There was a competitive tussle between Disney’s Wish and Apple’s Napoleon for the top spot, with the animated film celebrating the House of Mouse’s 100th anniversary edging out the French Emperor and his penchant for epic battles.

Wish didn’t perform any miracles, sadly, making only $8.3 million on Wednesday. Despite its significant production cost of $200 million, the gorgeous animation explaining the origin of the famous wishing star in other Disney adventures, is expected to bring in just over $37 million in the five-day period. This figure is certainly disappointing, considering the film’s vast budget, and it’s yet another signal that the studio is stuck in a creative and commercial slump.

Napoleon, the historical epic from Ridley Scott which stars Joaquin Phoenix as the eponymous character alongside Vanessa Kirby as his wife, Joséphine, brought in $7.7 million to finish in second. Forecasted to earn $30 million domestically, the movie is expected to finish the five-day period with a worldwide gross of around $100 million, which is a solid number, but again, the film carries a gargantuan budget of $200 million. However, this isn’t as big an issue for Apple as it would be for other studios. Napoleon, like Martin Scorsese‘s Killers of the Flower Moon, is a big budget film that Apple can afford to take a hit on because, ultimately, it’s designed to drive people to subscribe to Apple TV+.

What Else Is Doing Well at the Box Office?

Rounding out the top three was The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which took in $7.3 million, giving it a domestic total of $63.6 million to date. The prequel to the Jennifer Lawrence-led dystopian movie series is tipped to end the five day weekend in top spot of the box office with a gross of $40 million and, unlike the other two films, has a much smaller budget of $100 million.

Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s film, Trolls Band Together, secured the fourth position with $5.1 million. Projections indicate it will bring in $27 million in the five-day period, reaching a total of $66 million in earnings. In the fifth spot was TriStar and Spyglass Media’s Thanksgiving, a holiday-themed horror movie that raked in $1.8 million on Wednesday. It’s anticipated to make $10.1 million over the five days, bringing its domestic gross to $23.2 million. As for The Marvels? The movie earned just $1.5 million on Wednesday, which brings its domestic total to an awful $69.1 million. Stay tuned to Collider for updates.