Keke Palmer in a scene from One of Them Days. AP Photo
The buddy comedy One of Them Days, starring Keke Palmer and SZA, debuted in first place at the North American box office over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. Despite being a slow weekend for theaters, the film brought in $11.6 million from 2,675 theaters, edging out Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King by a small margin. By the end of the holiday, Mufasa was expected to surpass One of Them Days.
Produced on a budget of $14 million, One of Them Days is expected to earn back its production cost by Monday. The film has received positive reviews, with a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie tells the story of Palmer and SZA's characters, two roommates struggling to come up with rent money before their landlord evicts them. This is notable as the first Black female-led comedy since Girls Trip in 2017.
Despite the strong debut of One of Them Days, the overall box office performance was quite weak. The total revenue for the weekend, including Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, was projected to be under $80 million, one of the lowest figures for a Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend in nearly three decades.
Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore, noted that although the overall market was slow, One of Them Days still found success. “You can still find success stories within what is overall a low-grossing weekend for movie theaters,” he said.
In second place, Disney’s Mufasa earned $11.5 million in its fifth weekend of release, bringing its total global earnings to $588 million. Meanwhile, the Blumhouse horror film Wolf Man had a somewhat disappointing opening. The movie, which stars Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, made $10.6 million from 3,354 theaters. The film was met with lukewarm reviews and had a C- rating from audiences in CinemaScore exit polls.
The Sonic the Hedgehog 3 movie came in fourth place, bringing in $8.6 million, and Den of Thieves 2 rounded out the top five with $6.6 million in earnings.
In the world of specialty films, The Brutalist, a 215-minute post-war epic directed by Brady Corbert, expanded to 388 theaters and earned nearly $2 million over the weekend. The A24 production also enjoyed sold-out IMAX and 70mm showings. A24 also re-released Sing Sing, a drama starring Colman Domingo, in theaters and prisons across the country, reaching over 1 million incarcerated viewers in 46 states.
While the MLK holiday weekend saw success in previous years, such as the impressive performances of Bad Boys for Life and American Sniper, 2024’s holiday weekend didn’t live up to past box office numbers. Dergarabedian is optimistic, however, noting that upcoming films like Captain America: Brave New World and Paddington in Peru are expected to boost the box office starting in February.
