Box Office Report for the Week of January 14

This weekend’s box office has made fetch happen, regardless of Regina George’s thoughts. That’s right: the 2024 musical reinterpretation/remake of Mean Girls made an impressive $28 million tally for its opening weekend, with a $36 million worldwide total against a small budget of $34.5 million.

The film was initially slated to release on Paramount+, but positive test scores made Paramount course-correct and send it to cinemas. In that regard, they were right, as the movie is a smash hit amongst audiences, though the critical reception has so far been mixed.

It will likely leg out and be number one for quite some time, as no major tentpoles are slated to be released in the next two weeks, where we’ll finally learn who the REAL agent Argylle is. Though don’t sleep on Siddharth Anand‘s Fighter potentially making it to the domestic top 5 for the week of January 26th, reuniting with frequent collaborators Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone.

On the action front, David Ayer‘s The Beekeeper also had quite the buzz going for this weekend, with a $16.7 million tally and a $22 million worldwide cume. Reviews were also mixed, but Jason Statham‘s appeal as an action star continues to ensure commercial success for most of his projects, and The Beekeeper is no different. With Amazon potentially setting up a new action franchise, they certainly have the crowd ready for more.

Wonka also continues to hold surprisingly well, crossing the $500 million global mark and becoming the highest-grossing Willy Wonka adaptation, surpassing the record held by Tim Burton‘s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I wouldn’t hold out hope for a Wonka 2 but don’t be surprised if it does get announced much sooner than later.

Meanwhile, Jeymes Samuel‘s The Book of Clarence opened with a thud, with only a $2.5 million opening against a $40 million budget. It will likely not be able to turn a profit at this rate, with divisive reviews already establishing a sour word of mouth, despite the star-studded ensemble on display. With a cast like this, there would’ve been some hope for a modest success, but the film will likely never pick up and leave theatres very soon.

Here is the full list of the top ten films of the weekend:

1. Mean Girls (Paramount): $28.0M – 3,791 theatres
2. The Beekeeper (Amazon MGM Studios): $16.7M – 3,303 theatres
3. Wonka (Warner Bros): $8.3M (-40.5%) – 3,346 theatres
4. Anyone But You (Sony): $6.9M (-28.8%) – 2,935 theatres
5. Migration (Universal): $6.1M (-38.1%) – 3,224 theatres
6. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (Warner Bros/DC): $5.2M (-50.3%) – 2,741 theatres
7. Night Swim (Universal): $4.6M (-60.5%) – 3,257 theatres
8. Guntur Kaaram (Prathyangira Cinemas): $4.1M – 800 theatres
9. The Boys in the Boat (Amazon MGM Studios): $3.5M (-36.9%) – 2,007 theatres
10. The Book of Clarence (Sony): $2.5M – 2,010 theatres

Source: Box Office Pro