Have The Plastics finally met their match? In an unusually close box office battle, Paramount’s “Mean Girls” musical and Amazon MGM’s “The Beekeeper” are vying for the top spot.
According to Amazon MGM, “The Beekeeper” claimed the number one position, earning $7.4 million from 3,337 theaters in its third weekend of release. However, Paramount is reporting that the “Mean Girls” musical has earned $7.3 million and could potentially clinch the weekend’s top spot once the final numbers are tallied on Monday.
Despite this close race, the box office is experiencing a slump due to the absence of major studio releases for the second consecutive weekend. The anticipation for new releases is building, with movies like Apple and Universal’s spy comedy “Argylle,” Sony’s comic book adaptation “Madame Web,” and Paramount’s biographical musical “Bob Marley: One Love” set to debut in the coming weeks. However, moviegoers will have to wait until March for the highly anticipated release of Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune Part II” to truly reignite their passion for cinema.
Industry expert David A. Gross predicts that box office attendance in 2024 will be uneven during the first half, as the film industry takes time to recover from the recent actors’ strike. Nevertheless, both “Mean Girls” and “The Beekeeper” have achieved respectable results. “Mean Girls” has generated $60.8 million to date, surpassing its modest $36 million budget. Meanwhile, David Ayer’s action thriller “The Beekeeper” has grossed $41.6 million so far, showcasing its appeal to audiences.
The box office charts remain relatively unchanged from the previous weekend, with Timothee Chalamet’s “Wonka” securing the third position, Universal and Illumination’s animated film “Migration” in fourth, and Sony’s romantic comedy “Anyone But You” rounding out the top five. “Wonka” has impressively maintained a top-three position for seven consecutive weekends, a testament to its staying power in the absence of strong competition. The film has accumulated $195 million domestically from 3,014 venues.
Other movies, such as “Poor Things,” “American Fiction,” and “The Zone of Interest,” received a slight boost at the box office following their Oscar nominations. Searchlight’s off-beat comedy “Poor Things,” directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and starring Emma Stone, saw a 32% increase in ticket sales, bringing its total to $24.5 million. Jonathan Glazer’s haunting Holocaust drama “The Zone of Interest” earned $1.08 million from just 317 screens, reaching a total of $3 million.
As the box office landscape evolves, we eagerly await the final results and future releases that will inject new energy into the industry. For more box office news and updates, visit F5 Magazine.
Source: Variety