Already for 2024, this has started on a whimper as most of 2023’s winter tentpoles (aside from Wonka) couldn’t leg out enough with much interest from the general public. Partially due to a labor shortage/strikes that held up several projects slated for this year, there will be no new big release until the February 2nd release of Matthew Vaughn’s Argylle. It’s funny that it takes an Apple TV+ financed project to be distributed through Universal to get the ball rolling for the box office after a lackadaisical start with an underwhelming horror pic (Night Swim) and a decent reboot of a beloved genre (Mean Girls) in the first month of 2024.
Irregular distribution of tentpoles has been a thing of the past, but somewhere along the lines of 2015-16, it only seems predestined for audiences to now show up for a blockbuster if they want to see them while the rest is speculation (or paramount once critic reviews drop out or the internet blows up on the select title). Since COVID, 2021 had Godzilla vs. Kong and Spider-Man: No Way Home, 2022 had Top Gun: Maverick, Jurassic World Dominion, three prioritized MCU sequels (when Marvel fatigue hadn’t fully crossed our minds yet), and Avatar: The Way of Water, and 2023 had the infamous ‘Barbenheimer’ and The Super Mario Bros. Movie. From a completely unbiased perspective, perhaps the first feature of 2024 that will get us to stellar numbers is Dune: Part Two (after several delays due to the strikes).
Anyway, onto the numbers for this quiet weekend at the box office. Newcomer I.S.S. collapsed harder than a vessel in space wanted to crash back on Earth with a measly $3.02 million. Mixed reviews and a C- from CinemaScore assured a lot that this next space opera about Americans and Russians being at each other’s throats wasn’t interesting enough due to worldwide destruction. To be fair, none of the six stars are considered attractions in their own right, and it wouldn’t be enough to catch air when it’s not a new concept of space tales (see Alien, for instance).
Mean Girls held its crown for queen status on weekend two, dipping 59% with $11.7 million and past $50 million domestically. This was a one-trick pony for its debut, but the good news is that Paramount dropped it theatrically instead of whipping it to Paramount+. We can probably expect it to reach $80 million domestically for a $35 million budgeted teen comedy. The Beekeeper has kept a decent holding for second place with $8.48 million and stinging past $30 million domestically. Jason Statham has a product on his hands to keep him gunning for more success, and folks, much like they did a decade ago, will come to see him flex his accent and skills onscreen again.
Wonka continues to soar with $6.44 million on its sixth weekend, crawling towards $200 million domestically (at $531 million globally). Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will crawl past $400 million globally this week, an okay-ish number for the last superhero feature of the DCEU and a stark reminder that winter legs can still work to your benefit if your product is underwhelming. Anyone But You and Migration will pass $70 and $100 million, respectively, by next weekend. Night Swim will swim past $40 million globally later this week, and Poor Things added 820 theaters for a 14% increase ($2.04 million) in its seventh weekend.
Next weekend sees the release of Beautiful Wedding, Miller’s Girl, The Underdoggs, Sometimes I Think About Dying, and American Star to wrap up January.
