Mean Girls has held its own, topping the box office, making $28 million in the first weekend. Its release counterpart, I.S.S., the sci-fi thriller about the International Space Station, earned only $3 million.
Mean Girls made another $6.9 million through ticket sales during its second weekend. This marked a 59% decrease in ticket sales from the release weekend, but due to the low budget of $36 million, the movie had accounted for the decline and marked a steady profit.
David A. Gross, the creator of the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research, said, “With no big studio release, this weekend is the kind of ‘hole’ in the 2024 release schedule left by the strike and pandemic.”
I.S.S. not only fell short at the box office. The movie, starring Ariana DeBose and Chris Messina, scored a “C-” on CinemaScore from audience members and received many negative reviews from critics.
The Beekeeper trailed behind Mean Girls in the number 2 spot at the box office. Directed by David Ayer, the action thriller received $6.7 million in ticket sales. Wonka came in third at the box office. The musical, starring Timothée Chalamet and directed by Paul King, amassed $5.7 million in ticket sales.
Wonka has done steadily well at the box office. Since its release six weeks ago, the movie has generated $187 million in North America and $513 million globally. The feature, which had a budget of $100 million in production, has made that back plus a profit.
At spot number 4 was Universal and Illumination’s animated movie Migration, with $4.9 million in box office sales. Since its release, the adventure movie has made $94.6 million domestically and $191.6 million globally.
Rom-coms have seen a resurgence in the box office with Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell’s movie Anyone But You securing the number five spot, making $4.6 million in the release weekend. Globally, the film earned $100.2 million since its release, which puts Anyone But You among the top-grossing romantic comedy movies since Bridget Jones’s Baby in 2016. The modest budget of $25 million meant this was a big win for Sony and romantic comedies.
Spot number 6 was Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things starring Emma Stone that has grossed $25 million domestically in total, and last weekend grossed $2.9 million. Behind Poor Things, in spot number 7 was Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. The D.C. Comics movie grossed $2.7 million last week. Coming in ranking number 8 is Godzilla Minus One, which also grossed $2.7 million over the weekend. Coming ninth place was Cord Jefferson’s American Fiction, which grossed $2.6 million over the weekend. And rounding off the top 10 ten box office hits was Bryce McGuire’s Night Swim, which grossed 2 million in ticket sales over the weekend.
Top Box Office (U.S.)
1.) Mean Girls ($6.9M)
2.) The Beekeeper ($6.7M)
3.) Wonka ($5.7M)
4.) Migration ($4.9M)
5.) Anyone But You ($4.6M)
6.) Poor Things ($2.9M)
7.) Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom ($2.7M)
8.) Godzilla Minus One ($2.7M)
9.) American Fiction ($2.6M)
10.) Night Swim ($2M)