Los Angeles, California – Paramount’s revival of “Mean Girls” is projected to earn $12.3 million on Friday, including previews, and is expected to achieve a three-day total of $29 million and a four-day total of $33 million across 3,791 theaters. Meanwhile, Amazon MGM’s “The Beekeeper” could potentially generate $20 million over the four-day weekend after earning $7 million on Friday and an estimated $17 million over three days at 3,303 sites. Despite these strong starts, this year’s MLK weekend is predicted to fall short of last year’s record-breaking $124.8 million, which was driven by the success of “Avatar: The Way of Water” and “M3GAN.” The current lineup lacks the same depth as last year’s releases, unless Warner Bros.’ “Wonka” and Sony’s “Anyone But You” exceed expectations.
The fifth weekend of “Wonka” is projected to earn between $1.8 million and $2 million on Friday, with an estimated three-day total of $8 million to $9 million and a four-day total of $10 million to $12 million across 3,346 theaters. Sony’s romantic comedy “Anyone But You” earned $2.1 million on its fourth Friday, is anticipated to achieve a three-day total of $7.7 million (a 21% drop), and is projected to earn $9.5 million over the four-day weekend across 2,935 locations. This would bring its total gross to $57.7 million, surpassing the previous romcom “Ticket to Paradise” at the same point in time. However, “Mean Girls” and “The Beekeeper” are still expected to dominate the box office with projected four-day totals of $30 million and $16 million, respectively. The other major studio wide releases for the rest of the month will not arrive until February 2nd.
In terms of previews, “Mean Girls” earned $3.25 million, slightly below the $3.5 million earned by “Scream” two years ago. “Mean Girls” also outperformed last year’s “M3GAN,” which earned $2.75 million in previews and had a three-day start of $30.4 million. “The Beekeeper” garnered $2.4 million in previews, surpassing the preview figures of “The Gentlemen” and “The Meg 2.” Previews for “The Book of Clarence” brought in $1 million, while the re-release of Pixar’s “Soul” is expected to make around $2 million.
Additional box office figures for Thursday show that Sony’s “Anyone But You” grossed $997,000, putting its total gross at $48.2 million before the MLK weekend. Warner Bros.’ “Wonka” earned $675,000, bringing its cumulative gross to $167.8 million after four weeks. Amazon MGM’s “The Boys in the Boat” earned $559,000, with a total gross of $35.8 million heading into its third weekend. Warner Bros.’ “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” earned $550,000, reaching a total gross of $103 million at the end of its third week. Universal/Blumhouse’s “Night Swim” earned $487,000, with a first-week take of $14.5 million.
In conclusion, while “Mean Girls” and “The Beekeeper” are set to dominate the box office this weekend, overall ticket sales are expected to fall short of last year’s MLK weekend record. The depth of releases this year is not as strong, but the performance of “Wonka” and “Anyone But You” could potentially exceed expectations.