Mean Girls, The Beekeeper Drive $100 Million Box Office Weekend

Led by the musical adaptation of “Mean Girls” (Paramount) and a healthy assist from this year’s Martin Luther King Birthday weekend’s action release “The Beekeeper” (Amazon MGM), grosses nearly matched the same period last year. However, that’s likely the best we’ll see for a while. Theaters will wait until at least March, with its potentially strong franchise/sequel releases, for a better indication of whether 2024 will be as grim as suggested.

The weekend also featured several top awards contenders led by “Poor Things” (Searchlight) in advance of potential Oscar nominations. With a weaker release schedule ahead, these films have the opportunity for better-than-average upticks with plentiful screen availability.

“Mean Girls” was #1 with $28 million, while “The Beekeeper” with Jason Statham took second with a little under $17 million. Both are non-franchise titles (the former an update of the hit 2004 comedy, via its Broadway adaptation) and cost $40 million or less. However, both grossed under the respective top two of MLK weekend 2023 with “Avatar: The Way of Water” at $33 million in its fifth weekend and “M3GAN” grossing $18 million in its second. The weekend is estimated at $101 million, compared to $105 million in 2023. Year to date we’re down about seven percent ($299 million compared to $339 million).

Sony’s comedic religious parable, “The Book of Clarence” with LaKeith Stanfield, was the third new wide…