‘Girls Trip’ Earns Estimated $30+ Million in Opening Weekend

By Sameer Rao Jul 24, 2017

If a film’s opening weekend offers any indication of its future success, then "Girls Trip," a comedy celebrating Black women’s friendship, just might become this summer’s biggest hit.

Box Office Mojo‘s report yesterday (July 23) tallied "Girls Trip’s" opening weekend earnings at $30.37 million across 2,591 theaters. The Root estimates today’s (July 24) number, which accounts for last night’s ticket sales, at $30.8 million. The figures put "Girls Trip" well ahead of sci-fi action thriller "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets," which also debuted on Friday (July 21) in 3,553 theaters and earned $17 million, as well as "Spider-Man: Homecoming‘s" $22 million third weekend take. Only the World War II epic "Dunkirk" surpassed "Girls Trip," earning $50.5 million in 3,720 theaters.

"Girls Trip’s" opening success rested in large part on a predominantly female and Black audience, who showed the industry that a Black woman-headlined movie from Black creators can do better than the White-led sci-fi thrillers like "Valerian" that tend to become summer blockbusters. Box Office Mojo notes that the movie’s audience was 79 percent women, 59 percent Black, 17 percent Latinx and 3 percent Asian.

The movie also performed well with audiences and critics, with review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reporting an 89 percent "Fresh" score from both groups.

"Girls Trip" stars Jada Pinkett Smith ("Gotham"), Regina Hall ("Black-ish"), Queen Latifah ("Star") and Tiffany Haddish ("Keanu") as four college friends looking to reconnect and let loose at Essence Festival in New Orleans. Hilarity and hijinks ensue as the quartet dives headfirst into the Crescent City’s party scene. Malcolm D. Lee ("The Best Man Holiday") directed the film from Tracy Oliver ("Barbershop: The Next Cut") and Kenya Barris‘ ("Black-ish") screenplay, while William Packer ("Uncle Buck") produced. "Girls Trip" also stars Mike Colter ("Luke Cage") and Kofi Siriboe ("Queen Sugar") in supporting roles.