“One of Them Days” Tops Box Office, Shines as First Black Female-Led Comedy Since Girls Trip

The buddy comedy One of Them Days, starring Keke Palmer and SZA, claimed the top spot at the North American box office during the quiet Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. The Sony-produced, R-rated film earned $11.6 million across 2,675 theaters, narrowly edging out Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King. With its strong performance, One of Them Days is projected to surpass its production costs by Monday, marking a major achievement for the film.

The film, which has garnered praise for its humor and the chemistry between its stars, follows two friends and roommates—played by Palmer and SZA—as they race against time to scrape together rent money before facing eviction. Not only is the film’s success significant due to its box office performance, but it also stands out for marking the first Black female-led theatrical comedy since Girls Trip in 2017. The movie has been embraced by critics, boasting an impressive 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

SZA, who has received tremendous praise for her acting debut, shares the screen with Katt Williams and Lil Rel. The release of One of Them Days follows SZA’s success with SOS: LANA, the deluxe version of her sophomore album. Both Palmer and SZA have expressed excitement about working together again on future projects, and Issa Rae, who is involved with the production, has described the film as a full-length version of Insecure.

Despite the film’s success, the overall box office experienced a sluggish weekend, with total weekend grosses expected to fall below $80 million—ranking as one of the weakest Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekends since 1997, according to Comscore data. Senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian highlighted the achievement of One of Them Days, noting, “For an individual film like One of Them Days, this was a great weekend.”

Historically, the MLK weekend has seen blockbusters such as Bad Boys for Life, which opened to $62.5 million in 2020, and American Sniper, which grossed $89.3 million in its 2016 debut. Analysts are optimistic that the box office will rebound in February with the anticipated releases of Captain America: Brave New World and Paddington in Peru.

With One of Them Days leading the way, the future looks bright for Black female-led comedies and for both Keke Palmer and SZA as emerging forces in Hollywood.