November 2023 Box Office Breakdown: 11 Biggest Stats, Records & Failures

The November 2023 box office included a number of major releases from big studios that made headlines for different reasons, and these are the biggest stats, records, and failures of the month. November is usually a busy month at the box office and in theaters, mainly because of the Thanksgiving weekend, and this month’s slate didn’t disappoint. With several major releases, The Hunger Games spinoff ended Disney’s six-year streak at the Thanksgiving box office and reached a major milestone for the franchise.

Of course, November had its fair share of box office bombs and flops. Disney’s Wish failed to exceed expectations, and Marvel’s latest superhero movie, The Marvels, had the lowest MCU opening ever. There were also some leftover movies from the October 2023 box office. Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour reached a new milestone and stayed in the top ten, earning an additional $27 million, as well as Martin Scorsese’s latest project, Killers of the Flower Moon and Five Nights at Freddy’s. Overall, the November 2023 box office had wins, disappointments, and a variety of reached important milestones.

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11 Napoleon Broke Ridley Scott’s 13-Year Opening Weekend Curse

Napoleon exceeded expectations

Ridley Scott’s epic drama following the French ruler Napoleon exceeded expectations at the worldwide box office with its global opening weekend total of $78.8 million. Napoleon, starring Joaquin Phoenix, finally managed to break director Ridley Scott’s 13-year opening curse. It is his only historical or biopic film to open over $30 million in recent years, with 2010’s Robin Hood the last to achieve those heights. The $34.2 million domestic haul in its extended 5-day Thanksgiving opening weekend beat the director’s previous movie, 2021’s House of Gucci, which only grossed $14.4 million.

10 Disney’s Wish Flopped At The Box Office

Wish was Disney’s second animated movie of the year

Disney’s latest animated movie, Wish, didn’t live up to its opening projections for the Thanksgiving weekend. Wish was expected to continue Disney’s six-year streak at the Thanksgiving box office. However, its results were underwhelming, as projections approximated a $45M-$65M opening. Coming just one week after Trolls Band Together, families might’ve chosen to see the other movie instead because Wish only earned $31.7 million in its opening week following its premiere on November 22 and $19.5 million over the traditional weekend. Worldwide, Wish came shy of $50 million, with a total of $49.6 million.

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9 Napoleon Topped Global Charts And Beat Disney’s Wish In The Thanksgiving Weekend

Napoleon had a great opening weekend

Ridley Scott’s Napoleon opened on the same weekend as Disney’s latest animated movie, Wish, and managed to score the crown as the winner of the Thanksgiving weekend. Although neither managed to score the first place at the domestic box office, a place occupied by The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Napoleon conquered the global charts. Despite its 61% Rotten Tomatoes score, Napoleon also outgrossed Wish at the domestic box office, with a five-day gross of $32.5 million, securing itself in second place, while Wish managed to score the third spot with a total of $31.7 million.

8 Taika Waititi’s Next Goal Wins Was A Box Office Bomb

It is Waititi’s lowest performer in years

Taika Waititi’s latest film Next Goal Wins was his worst box office performance in years. This was expected on one hand considering the massive performance of his two Thor movies, but Jojo Rabbit was a decent box office success story. Instead of repeating that level of commercial appeal, Next Goal Wins made less than $2.5 million in its opening weekend. The poor reviews levied against the movie and audiences having a chance to see Michael Fassbender in David Fincher’s superior movie The Killer on Netflix contributed to the disappointment. Premiering against Napoleon and Wish did not help either.

7 Thanksgiving Broke A Horror Movie Box Office Record

The new slasher horror won thanks to namesake holiday

Slasher movies have seen a surge in popularity lately, with the Scream and Halloween reboots, and director Eli Roth decided to bank on the Thanksgiving holiday with a new horror film. It all paid off because his Thanksgiving broke a horror box office record. After its $11.1 million five-day gross at the box office the weekend of its namesake holiday, it experienced the smallest drop for any horror movie in 2023 in its second week, with only $31%. Its box office total amounted to $29.3 million, with $24.4 million in domestic haul.

6 Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon Box Office Crossed Worldwide Milestone

The film is still finding its audience

The domestic November box office placed Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon in the ninth spot after making another $22 million (via Box Office Mojo). Since its premiere on October 20, the film grossed just shy of $152 million, with $65.7 in domestic haul. This meant Killers of the Flower Moon crossed a major box office milestone as it passed the $150 million mark worldwide. It is one of eight Scorsese movies to achieve this milestone. Although the film still isn’t profitable given its $200 million budget, it has received universal acclaim, sitting among Martin Scorsese’s best movies.

5 Trolls Band Together Beat Disney At The Box Office

Trolls Band Together brought more people to the theaters than Disney’s Wish

Trolls Band Together is the third installment in the Trolls franchise, and it had a lot to live up to at the box office. The first film made $343 million worldwide, and its sequel made $48 million worldwide during the pandemic. Trolls Band Together has proven to be a return to form for the franchise, earning $146.7 million worldwide. The movie made $30 million during its opening weekend domestically and another $25 million over Thanksgiving. The performance is exceptional on its own, but it is even better when considering that Wish‘s 5-day opening weekend barely beat Trolls 3‘s 3-day opening from before.

4 Five Nights at Freddy Became Blumhouse’s Highest-Grossing Film Of All Time

Five Nights at Freddy’s broke several records along the way

Five Nights at Freddy’s opened in October, but it had an amazing run at the box office in November, too. The horror film immediately exceeded expectations, as it broke a number of box office records, and that trend continued as it pulled in nearly $50 million domestically alone in November. As a result, Five Nights at Freddy‘s broke another box office record, as it became Blumhouse’s highest-grossing movie of all time worldwide. This is possible after earning over $283 million worldwide to this point, with over $136 million coming domestically alone.

3 The Marvels Has The Lowest MCU Opening Ever

The sequel to Captain Marvel underwhelmed

It is safe to say The Marvels did not live up to any box office expectations. The sequel to Captain Marvel had to follow a $1.1 billion box office performance, but it had the lowest opening weekend for any MCU movie with only $46.1 million made during the three-day stretch. While the movie was still the second-biggest film at the November domestic box office, The Marvels has only made $188 million worldwide to this point. With a budget reportedly over $270 million, its chance to become profitable has vanished, as it will make well under half as much as its predecessor.

2 The Eras Tour Becomes The 10th Highest-Grossing Film Of The Year

The Eras Tour concert film reached two major milestones in November

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour continued to have an amazing run at the box office in November, despite it premiering on October 13. The concert film following Taylor Swift’s record-breaking tour broke multiple records out the gate, but it has maintained strong legs throughout November. The Taylor Swift: Eras Tour box office has surpassed the $250 million mark worldwide, earning $178.2 million domestically and $71.8 million internationally. Swift’s The Eras Tour concert film also became the 10th highest-grossing film of 2023 during this time, surpassing Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

1 The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes Wins November

The Hunger Games spinoff hits major milestone for the franchise

The Hunger Games franchise returned in 2023 with the prequel The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. The film won the November box office, beating its adversaries and becoming the only film in November to hit the $100 million mark domestically, with a total of over $200 million worldwide (via Deadline). The strong performance came in spite of a franchise record-low opening weekend at only $98 million worldwide. However, it had a small drop in its second weekend and helped push the franchise past the $3 billion mark worldwide. It became the biggest November 2023 box office hit as a result.