Amazon/MGM action picture The Beekeeper flew to the top of the North American box office on a slow winter weekend with an estimated take of $7.4 million, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations said Sunday.
Tough guy Jason Statham plays the beekeeper in question, an ex-commando seeking revenge against a criminal group whose cruel scams lead to the suicide of his friend (Phylicia Rashad).
Beekeeper only narrowly edged out last weekend’s top film, Paramount’s Mean Girls, which took in an estimated $7.3 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period in the US and Canada. That brings its domestic total in three weeks out to $60.8 million – not bad for a film made for around $36 million.
The tale of high school survival stars Angourie Rice, Renee Rapp, Auli’i Cravalho, Avantika, and Bebe Wood, as well as Tina Fey, the writer behind both this film and the 2004 original.
In third, showing exceptional strength in its seventh week out, was Warner Bros.’ fantasy musical Wonka at $5.9 million. Timothee Chalamet plays the eccentric chocolate maker in a cast that includes Olivia Colman and Hugh Grant. Made for $100 million, Wonka has grossed just over $550 million worldwide.
Flying steady in fourth was Migration, a family-friendly animation from Universal and Illumination about the misadventures of a family of traveling mallard ducks. It took in $5.2 million, pushing it just over the $100 million mark in North America.
And in fifth, at $4.8 million, was Sony rom-com Anyone But You, starring Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell. The sleeper hit has rolled up totals of $71.2 million domestically and $55 million overseas for a total $126.2 million.
