Royalty Reigns at the Box Office: Mean Girls and The Beekeeper Maintain a Winning Streak!

By M Muzamil Shami

Even Jason Statham would struggle to overthrow the dominance of the Plastics (unless he has a bus).

Hop in, underachiever. We're catching another screening of Mean Girls.

Gretchen Wieners is back at it, attempting to revive the long-lost glory of "fetch" in the recent rendition of the 2004 classic. This time around, she might just pull it off. The Mean Girls movie musical, a transformation from the 2018 Tony-nominated Broadway production, continues its reign at the box office for the second consecutive week, according to Comscore.

Penned by Tina Fey, the comedic masterpiece raked in $11.7 million in its second weekend, pushing its domestic earnings to a solid $50 million. The storyline remains familiar, once again tracking Cady Heron (Angourie Rice) as she navigates the challenges of life in Illinois and, more notably, the terrors of high school. It seems audiences are relishing the experience of being under Regina George's reign of terror, portrayed by the talented Reneé Rapp. Despite its $36 million budget, the film has already surpassed expectations, with a worldwide gross of $66.2 million.

       Bebe Wood, Renee Rapp, and Avantika starring in 'Mean Girls'.PHOTO: Paramount Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection

Just beyond the buzz of the Plastics, another battle for survival unfolds. The action-packed thriller "The Beekeeper," starring Jason Statham, raked in an impressive $8.4 million over the weekend, reaching a domestic total of $31 million ($75.3 million globally). Despite the seemingly simple task of gathering honey, the title conceals a clandestine group of skilled agents operating outside governmental boundaries to expose corruption.

Shifting to a lighter mood, several musicals continued to captivate audiences at the box office this weekend. Timothée Chalamet's whimsical chocolatier tale, "Wonka," serenaded its way to the third spot with an additional $6.4 million, pushing its domestic earnings to $187 million ($531.7 million worldwide).

In another corner, the slightly risqué yet endearing R-rated romantic comedy "Anyone but You" maintained its fourth-place position, showing resilience in its fifth week with an added $5.4 million. The film, featuring Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell, has amassed a domestic haul of $64.2 million and a global gross of $100.2 million, underscoring the enduring appeal of romantic comedies in the box office arena.

      Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney take the lead roles in 'Anyone But You'.PHOTO: Photo by Brook Rushton, courtesy of Sony

Families continued to show strong interest in the animated film "Migration," created by Mike White, the mastermind behind The White Lotus. The movie added another $5.3 million to its earnings, reaching a domestic total of $94.6 million and a worldwide total of $191.6 million.

However, the sole newcomer this weekend, I.S.S., couldn't break into the top five. It fell even below "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom," which earned $3.6 million, bringing its domestic total to $114 million and a worldwide cumulative of $396 million. The claustrophobic space-set thriller, featuring Ariana DeBose, Chris Messina, and John Gallagher Jr., managed to collect only $3 million during its debut across 2,520 theaters.