On Thursday, we predicted that this weekend would look the same as the previous two weekends with the only shake up coming by way of the fourth and fifth spot (Migration and Anyone But You) switching positions. Well, there may be another position switch as currently Mean Girls and The Beekeeper are locked in an epic battle of wills where each film is currently looking at first place with around $6.4 million in projected weekend grosses.
That would be quite the feat for the Jason Statham/ David Ayer pairing. In a world where R rated action films not named John Wick tend to underperform before fading to obscurity, The Beekeeper has the opportunity to take first place in its third week of release. The film actually has tasted that victory before as just this past week it landed on the top of the charts for several days. It is for that reason that I still believe Mean Girls will eek out the victory this weekend as Beekeeper will likely suffer a worst decline on Sunday when most of that films audience is watching the NFL playoffs while the teenaged audience for Mean Girls may not care as much.
While those two duke it out for first, the holiday sensation that is Wonka will likely land in third place with around $5.8 million in receipts. What’s even more impressive is that in the seven weeks since this films release, it has not had a weekend finish below third place. This prequel, and yes it is a prequel! Even if it is the origin story of Willy Wonka from the original novel, that would still make this film a prequel story to the novel! But I digress, this prequel is about a week away from hitting the magical $200 million domestic mark while its international numbers are nearly $600 million. Quite the accomplishment for a film that started with just around $39 million. You can check out Chris Bumbray’s 7/10 review for Wonka here.
Fourth and fifth place will be another fight between the R rated romantic comedy Anyone But You and the PG rated animated birds of Migration. Currently the Kumail Nanjiani/ Elizabeth Banks/ Danny DeVito/ Keegan-Michael Key voiced film has the edge with what is projected to be a $4.9 million weekend while Anyone But You looks at fifth place with around $4.8 million as that film looks to surpass the domestic total of 2022’s Ticket To Paradise ($68.2 million). Who would have thought that the teaming of Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell would be more of a box office draw than Julia Roberts and George Clooney?! You can check out Chris Bumbray’s 5/10 review for Anyone But You hear.
With no new wide theatrical releases this weekend, due mainly to the strikes that affected the industry last year, this weekend has the potential to be the lowest grossing weekend at the box office since January 2022. Are you still planning on hitting theaters this weekend or are you waiting until next week when Argylle hits? Let us know in the comments and don’t forget to check back tomorrow when we have a full rundown on this weekend’s box office numbers.