The weekend box office results are shaping up to be a “rooting for everyone Black” kind of scenario as both Barry Jenkins’ “Mufasa” and Lawrence Lamont’s “One of Them Days” were battling it out for the No. 1 spot.
“One of Them Days,” a buddy comedy starring Keke Palmer and SZA, is not only the first Black female-led comedy to hit theaters since Will Packer’s “Girls Trip” in 2017, but it also opened to critical success as number one in North America over the weekend. The film, produced by Issa Rae and directed by Lamont, follows roommates Dreux (Palmer) and Alyssa (SZA) as they go to hilarious lengths to pay their rent on time. Since it opened on Friday, Jan, 17, it has brought in over $14.2 million when it reportedly had a budget of $14.5 million.
Amid the Los Angeles wildfires, the film’s premiere was “rightfully” canceled, Palmer noted in an Instagram post celebrating the film’s reaching the top spot.
“I wanted to shout out my family who came out to support me in the midst of the fires when our premiere got (rightfully) canceled because of the troubling times. Let me introduce you to the people that keep me inspired to tell our stories and create the art I do,” she began in the caption of the post that included portraits she’d taken with her nearest and dearest.
“Through all the chaos and silliness of [“One of Them Days”] at the core, that’s what it is about,” she continued. “Community love and friendship will always get you through hard times, and laughs, of course, and cussing mfs out. Whatever works.”
The buddy comedy was bumped out of the top spot on Monday by none other than Disney’s “Mufasa,” starring Aaron Pierre. The film, which chronicles the origin story of the famous king of Pride Rock in Disney’s “The Lion King,” has been experiencing “staying power” since it opened the weekend before Christmas according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The outlet reported that the film earned an additional estimated $15.5 million over the weekend, bringing its total earnings since opening to well over $500 million.
Both of these films managed to bring in these numbers during what multiple outlets have noted was one of the slowest Martin Luther King Jr. weekend box offices in history.
Perhaps shimmying down a certain talk show host’s hallway as her crew serenade-cheers you on has a way of paying off (we see you J-Hud). We sincerely hope Pierre is somewhere cheering on these spectacular numbers because “He’s Mufasa!”
