The MLK weekend box office is off to a solid start with Paramount’s redux of Mean Girls and Amazon MGM’s The Beekeeper, but it looks like it will fall short of last year’s earnings. According to Box Office Mojo, last year’s MLK weekend grossed $124.8 million over four days, primarily due to the success of Avatar: The Way of Water and M3GAN. The depth of holdovers from the previous weekend was greater, and unless Warner Bros.’ Wonka and Sony’s Anyone But You can exceed expectations, this year’s MLK weekend will not match up.
Paramount’s Mean Girls is expected to earn $29 million over the three-day weekend and $33 million over the four-day weekend at 3,791 theaters. The movie, originally intended for Paramount+, has received positive reviews and is performing well at the box office. Mean Girls has a solid 3.5-star rating on Comscore Screen Engine’s PostTrak, with 71% of viewers being women. The movie is particularly popular among women under 25, accounting for 44% of the female audience. Despite being a remake, Mean Girls is holding its own and is on track to surpass the earnings of previous MLK weekend releases.
The Beekeeper, directed by David Ayer and starring Jason Statham, is also off to a strong start, with $2.4 million in previews. The movie is appealing to a predominantly male audience, with 65% of viewers being men, according to PostTrak. The Beekeeper is expected to earn $20 million over the four-day weekend and has received favorable reviews from critics, with a 72% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. With the added benefit of Imax tickets, The Beekeeper has the potential to exceed expectations and become a breakout hit of the weekend.
Warner Bros.’ Wonka, in its fifth weekend, is estimated to earn between $8 million and $9 million over three days and $10 million to $12 million over four days at 3,346 theaters. The movie is performing decently but has not reached the same level of success as previous MLK weekend releases. Sony’s romcom sleeper, Anyone But You, is also holding its own, with a predicted four-day weekend of $9.5 million. The movie is currently on pace to surpass the earnings of Universal’s Ticket to Paradise, despite targeting an older audience.
Meanwhile, the fourth weekend of Illumination/Universal’s Migration is projected to earn $4.7 million over three days and $6.3 million over four days. The movie has already accumulated a total of $85.8 million by the end of the MLK weekend. In contrast, Legendary/Tri-Star’s The Book of Clarence is underperforming, with a projected four-day weekend of only $3 million.
Mean Girls’ previews earned $3.25 million, slightly below the $3.5 million earned by Paramount/Spyglass Media’s Scream two years ago. However, Scream went on to earn $30 million over three days, suggesting that Mean Girls has the potential for a successful run. The Beekeeper’s previews earned $2.4 million, surpassing the preview figures of other films like The Gentlemen. While it falls short of Statham’s previous film, The Meg 2, The Beekeeper is still off to a promising start.
Mean Girls and The Beekeeper are expected to dominate the box office during the MLK weekend, as they are the only major studio wide releases. The rest of the month will see limited releases until Apple Original Films’ Argylle arrives in early February. Mean Girls, directed by Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr., has successfully made the transition from stage to screen, thanks to the involvement of Tina Fey, who wrote the screenplay.
The MLK weekend box office is off to a solid start, but is unlikely to match the earnings of the previous year. Mean Girls and The Beekeeper are performing well, exceeding expectations and proving to be hits with their respective audiences. While holdovers like Wonka and Anyone But You are holding their own, they have not reached the same level of success as previous MLK weekend releases. As the weekend progresses and final numbers come in, it will be interesting to see how these films fare and what impact they will have on the overall box office landscape.