“Girls Trip” stars (from left) Regina Hall, Tiffany Haddish and Jada Pinkett Smith and Queen Latifah have delighted audiences for two weeks. (Universal Pictures)
The second-week success of “Girls Trip” is proving audiences are soaking up the celebration of Black womanhood and friendship.
The film starring Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith and Tiffany Haddish made $20.1 million in its second weekend, Forbes reported, down only 36 percent from its $31 million opening last week. Malcolm D. Lee’s movie about four college friends who reunite during a wild trip to the Essence Festival attracted a variety of movie-goers, with an audience comprised of 59 percent Black viewers, 19 percent white viewers, 17 percent Hispanic viewers and 3 percent Asian viewers, according to Box Office Mojo.
Compared to two other recent women-led comedies — “Rough Night,” which stars Scarlett Johansson, Kate McKinnon, Jillian Bell, Ilana Glazer and Zoë Kravitz, and May’s “Snatched” starring Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn — “Girls Trip” has flourished. “Rough Night” opened to $12 million in June before dropping 40 percent to $7M the following week and “Snatched” dropped 57 percent from its $25 million debut to $11M the next week.
Such a showing was applauded by director Ava DuVernay who celebrated “Girls Trip” for becoming a big hit with an all-Black female cast.
History: Film centering four black women having fun with no big cause, mission, problem or catastrophe hits big at box office.
Hollywood: pic.twitter.com/nlqGSGogZ2
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) July 23, 2017
The flick also shows a story about Black women doesn’t have to be a historical piece like “Hidden Figures” to do well.
“This is the year that [started with] ‘Hidden Figures,’ and I love what that movie was able to do,” “Girls Trip” producer Will Packer told the Los Angeles Times Friday, July 21. “Now, we’re in a time when comedies have not been working as of late in the theatrical marketplace. This one happens to be fronted by four Black women, but it’s original storytelling and has universal themes.”
