- Google signs nuclear power deal with startup Kairos
- Carsley open to foreign England manager amid Guardiola links
- Pogba hungry to have his football cake after doping ban
- India and Canada expel top envoys in Sikh separatist killing row
- Mbappe says victim of 'fake news' after 'rape' report in Sweden
- Lebanon says 21 killed in strike on northern village
- Netanyahu vows no mercy after deadly Hezbollah drone strike
- Russia could be able to attack NATO by 2030: German intelligence
- EVs seek to regain sales momentum at Paris Motor Show
- Clarke backs Scotland to bounce back from 'tough' run
- Harris, Trump target crucial Pennsylvania as US vote looms
- NASA probe Europa Clipper lifts off for Jupiter's icy moon
- Lebanese Red Cross says 18 killed in strike in north
- Mendy borrowed money from Man City team-mates for legal fees
- Palestinian officials say Israeli forces kill two in West Bank
- Football leagues, unions file EU complaint against FIFA in calendar dispute
- Nigeria boycott AFCON qualifier in Libya after 'inhumane treatment'
- India to recall top envoy to Canada: foreign ministry
- Hezbollah, Israeli troops in 'violent clashes' after drone strike
- China insists won't renounce 'use of force' to take Taiwan as drills end
- Painkiller sale plan to US gives France major headache
- Italy begins landmark migrant transfers to Albania
- Russia jails French researcher for three years
- 'Unsustainable' housing crisis bedevils Spain's socialist govt
- Stocks shrug off China disappointment but oil slides
- New Zealand 4-0 up in America's Cup but British show signs of life
- Russian prosecutor demands 3 years prison for French researcher
- 'Innocent' British nerve agent victim caught in global murder plot: inquiry
- Afghan Taliban vow to implement media ban on images of living things
- Russian prosecutor demands 3 years, 3 months jail for French researcher
- England ready for Pakistan's spin assault in second Test
- New Zealand's Ravindra excited for India Tests with father in crowd
- India's capital bans fireworks to curb air pollution
- Stocks diverge, oil retreats as China disappoints markets
- FIFA to open 'global dialogue' on transfer system after Diarra ruling
- Trio wins economics Nobel for work on wealth inequality
- Starmer vows to cut red tape as he urges foreign investors to 'back' UK
- Ex-Stasi officer jailed over 1974 Berlin border killing
- 'Not viable': Barcelona turns against surging tourism
- Hezbollah says targeted Israeli naval base after deadly drone strike
- Rice praises 'unbelievable' England interim boss Carsley despite uncertainty
- Nepali teenager hailed as hero after climbing world's 8,000m peaks
- England captain Stokes back from injury for second Pakistan Test
- Shanghai stocks gain after stimulus briefing as markets rally
- Shanghai stocks gain after stimulus briefing as Asian markets rally
- South Korea military says 'fully ready' as drone flights anger North
- Pakistan 'vigilantes' behind rise in online blasphemy cases
- Nearly 90, but opera legend Kabaivanska is still calling tune
- Smith experiment as Test opener over, Green out of India series
- With inflation down, ECB eyes faster tempo of rate cuts
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N.America fans show appetite for 'Hunger Games' prequel
A "Hunger Games" prequel from Lionsgate topped all other movies in North American theaters this weekend, gobbling an estimated $44 million in ticket sales, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday.
"The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes" put up "very good numbers" for an action adventure prequel and should also do well abroad, said David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research.
The film, the fifth in the "Hunger Games" series, stars Tom Blyth as Coriolanus Snow and Rachel Zegler (whose breakout came in "West Side Story") as Lucy Gray Baird; also starring are Peter Dinklage and Jason Schwartzman in a tale built around the 10th Hunger Games in the dystopia of Panem.
In second for the Friday-through-Sunday period was another new release, "Trolls Band Together," a family-friendly animated musical comedy from DreamWorks and Universal Pictures. It took in $30.6 million.
A sequel to "Trolls World Tour," this installment, which has fared better with audiences than with critics, features the voices of Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Zooey Deschanel and Kenan Thompson.
In third was superhero film "The Marvels." After opening last weekend at $47 million, the lowest debut ever for a movie from Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe, the superhero film made history again, plummeting to $10.2 million -- Marvel's "worst second-weekend drop of all time," said the Hollywood Reporter.
Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris and Iman Vellani star in the sci-fi yarn.
Tying with "The Marvels" was gory slasher film "Thanksgiving," from Spyglass Media and TriStar Pictures, also with ticket sales of $10.2 million -- not a bad start for a film that cost just $15 million to make.
"Reviews are excellent," Gross said, "and the picture should play well over the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend."
Patrick Dempsey, better known as neurosurgeon Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd on popular series "Grey's Anatomy," plays a sheriff with a dark backstory.
And in fifth place was another horror film, "Five Nights at Freddy's" from Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions, at $3.5 million. Josh Hutcherson plays a luckless security guard working nights in a creepy abandoned store.
Rounding out the top 10 were:
"The Holdovers" ($2.7 million)
"Next Goal Wins" ($2.5 million)
"Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour" ($2.4 million)
"Priscilla" ($2.3 million)
"Killers of the Flower Moon" ($1.9 million)
M.Fischer--AMWN