“Mean Girls” (2024) Easily Claims Top Spot at the Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend Box Office

The box office numbers for the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend are, more or less, in and it looks like the musical-comedy iteration of Mean Girls is the clear winner.

Starring Reneé Rapp, Auliʻi Cravalho, Avantika, and more, the Mean Girls (2024) movie is making its way toward a respectable 4-day opening of an estimated $32 million at the domestic box office. With a reported production budget of $36 million and positive word of mouth going into the coming weeks, the latest version of Mean Girls is surely a hit for Paramount. Take note; the studio initially decided to release this movie on Paramount+ but changed plans after the test scores. So good call.

As someone who is a fan of the 2004 version of Mean Girls, I have to say that I still enjoyed watching the latest offering. In my opinion, the story was understandably updated for modern times (the screenplay is by Tina Fey) and the cast did a good job in their respective roles. Even though musicals aren’t really my thing, I have to give Mean Girls (2024) its flowers. And yes to a well-written movie with obvious queer representation taking the number one spot.

Coming in at number two is Jason Statham’s latest action-flick The Beekeeper from director David Ayer. It’s supposed to have an estimated 4-day domestic haul of $19 million.

I don’t really know what to say about it. I mean, did I enjoy watching it? Yeah. Did the story make sense to me? Not really. The lore involving Statham’s character Adam Clay working as an actual beekeeper while being a retired agent from a group of elites also called the Beekeepers really was… it sure was something.

Having said that, it was nice to see Josh Hutcherson playing the main villain.

Another musical Wonka continued to do well at the box office. Starring Timothee Chalamet, the movie got third place with an estimated domestic gross of $8 million. The global gross sits at $507.8 million against a reported production budget of $125 million. I wouldn’t be surprised if a Wonka sequel gets announced soon.

Talking about musicals, The Color Purple seems to have failed to garner the much-needed audience support after an impressive debut performance. Released on December 25, 2023, the movie is already out of the Top 10 list with the global box office haul being approximately $56.3 million against a reported production budget of around $90 million.

Considering how well-made the film is, I don’t know why it couldn’t retain an audience. It’s surely disappointing. Here’s to hoping The Color Purple can win some major awards in the coming weeks. It sure needs them.

Talking about disappointment, Black-led biblical satirical drama The Book of Clarence flopped with an estimated opening of a mere $3 million against a reported production budget of $40 million. As of writing this post, the movie has a Critic Score of 67% and an Audience Score of 76% on Rotten Tomatoes. So, it’s not as if it’s a bad movie. Let’s see how it performs down the line.   

Here’s the entire box office list for January 12-14, 2024! (via Beyond the Trailer)

1. Mean Girls – $28 million (includes obvious queer characters)
2. The Beekeeper – $16.7 million
3. Wonka – $8.3 million
4. Anyone But You – $6.9 million (includes obvious queer characters)
5. Migration – $6.1 million
6. Aquaman 2 – $5.2 million
7. Night Swim – $4.6 million
8. Guntur Kaaram – $4.1 million
9. The Boys in the Boat – $3.5 million
10. The Book of Clarence – $2.5 million

Which movies did you watch this weekend? Any thoughts about Mean Girls?

Let us know.

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(via THR)

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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