'Mean Girls', 'The Beekeeper'

Source: Paramount / MGM

‘Mean Girls’, ‘The Beekeeper’

Worldwide box office January 12-14

RankFilm (distributor)3-day (world)Cume (world) 3-day (int’l)Cume (int’l) Territories
 1. Mean Girls (Paramount)  $34.5m  $34.5m  $6.5m  $6.5m  17
 2. The Beekeeper (MGM)  $33.9m  $34.1m  $17.1m  $16.7m  46
 3. Wonka (Warner Bros)  $23.7m  $505.3m  $15.3m  $329.1m  78
 4. Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom (Warner Bros)  $21.9m  $373.7m  $16.6m  $265.5m  79
 5. Johnny Keep Walking! (various)  $19.5m  $108.3m  $19.5m  $108.3m  1
 6. Migration (Universal)  $15.1m  $172.6m  $8.9m  $86.9m  75
 7. Anyone But You (Sony)  $12m  $78m  $5.1m  $22.8m  24
 8. Wish (Disney)  $8.8m  $223.4m  $8.6m  $160.4m  52
9.  Night Swim (Universal)  $7.1m  $29.7m  $2.5m  $10.6m  41
 10. The Goldfinger (various)  $7m  $64.3m  $6.9m  $63.3m  9         

Credit: Comscore. All figures are estimates.

North America leads for ‘Mean Girls’ in early running

Paramount’s Mean Girls – the film of the stage musical of the film – has topped both the North America and global box office on its debut weekend, with estimated combined takings of $34.5m.

North America did the heavy lifting for the film, with an estimated $28.0m for the weekend, and $32.0m including today’s Martin Luther King Jr Day holiday (January 15).

So far, Mean Girls has opened in a first wave of 16 international markets, representing less than half of the film’s footprint overseas. Estimated weekend takings of $6.5m included $2.3m and $1.7m respectively for leading markets Australia and Mexico, opening at the top spot in both cases.

In Europe, the new Mean Girls has so far proved less potent: France leads the way with an estimated $360,000 (only enough for 13th place). Next is Spain with an estimated $330,000, and a seventh-place finish.

There is still plenty of international road left for Mean Girls, with UK/Ireland and New Zealand opening this week, and Germany to follow on January 25.

Mean Girls is chasing the $130.1m global total achieved by the original 2004 film: $86.1m in North America, and $44.1m for international markets.

The estimated $34.5m global weekend total for Mean Girls is the lowest number for a film topping Comscore’s worldwide chart since the September 22-24 session last year, when The Nun II clung onto the top spot in its third week of play.

‘The Beekeeper’ buzzes to $34m debut

Miramax’s The Beekeeper gave Mean Girls a run for its money at the weekend, albeit thanks to wider international distribution.

The David Ayer-directed action thriller began with an estimated $16.8m in North America for distributor Amazon MGM Studios, and $17.1m for 45 international markets – delivering a combined $33.9m.

China led the international pack with an estimated $4.4m opening (landing in fourth place there), ahead of Germany and Austria with a combined estimate of $2.8m, topping the German-speaking market. Middle East saw an estimated $2.7m debut.

Next come Australia and New Zealand with a combined $1.4m estimate, then Mexico ($1.3m) and UK/Ireland ($1.2m).

Upcoming key markets for The Beekeeper include Scandinavia (February), South Korea (March) and Japan (Q4).

Jason Statham stars as a former member of a clandestine national security organisation who seeks revenge on a company that defrauded his neighbour and drove her to suicide.

‘Wonka’ dances past $500m total

Warner Bros’ Wonka has overtaken the lifetime global total of Tim Burton’s Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, thus becoming the top-grossing film featuring Roald Dahl’s chocolatier. Paul King’s film also enjoyed the distinction of pushing past $500m at the weekend, and has now reached a $505.3m total, after six weeks of play: $176.2m in North America and $329.1m for international.

UK/Ireland remains the runaway leader for Wonka in international markets, with $71.1m so far – far ahead of second-placed France ($25.4m). Next come Mexico ($24.4m), Australia ($21.0m), Germany ($20.9m), Italy ($15.2m) and Japan ($15.1m).

Tim Burton’s Charlie And The Chocolate Factory reached a $475.0m global total when released in 2005. If adjusted for inflation, Burton’s Dahl adaptation would remain ahead of King’s originally conceived origin tale.

Sony romcom ‘Anyone But You’ shows strong international legs

Although Sony’s romantic comedy Anyone But You has so far only reached 23 international markets, it is delivering a robust performance where it is playing – declining only 13% in holdover territories.

The film grossed an estimated $6.9m in North America at the weekend, and $5.1m for international. In totals so far, the numbers are $55.2m for North America and $22.8m for international – combining for $78.0m worldwide.

In international cumulative totals, Australia (where Anyone But You is largely set) still leads with $8.9m, but UK/Ireland, where the film posted a 15% rise at the weekend, is closing the gap, and has now reached $6.9m there.

Anyone But You still has plenty of key markets yet to release – places where Sony can trumpet the success already achieved. Upcoming are Germany, Mexico and Spain (all later this week), followed by France, Mexico and Italy (all a week later).

Sony’s film is chasing the $168.8m achieved by Universal romantic comedy Ticket To Paradise in 2022 – the film that at the time was held up as an example of theatrical life in the unfashionable romcom genre. However, that release had the benefit of proven romcom stars Julia Roberts and George Clooney. Encouragingly for Sony and other Hollywood studios which may wish to enter this space, Anyone But You is achieving its success with lesser-known names Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney, both hitherto relatively unproven in lead roles on the big screen.